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Duluth and St. Louis County 
Minnesota 



Their Story and People 



An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular 

Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, 

Industrial, Educational, Civic and 

Social Development 



Prepared under the Editorial Supervision of 
WALTER VAN BRUNT 

Assisted by a Board of Advisory Editors 



ISSUED IN THREE VOLUMES 

VOLUME III 



ILLUSTRATED 



THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
CHICAGO and NEW YORK 

1921 



^.w 



41348A 



Copyright 1921 

THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Chicago and New York 



History of 

Duluth and St. Louis County 

David T. Adams, of Chicago, formerly of Duluth, is a pioneer of the 
Iron Range country whose services would justify full representation in 
any volume of biography devoted to this region. 

The editor and compilers of this History of St. Louis County are 
indebted to Mr. Adams for a manuscript account of his experiences as 
an explorer and discoverer of the Mesaba Range. Generous use has 
been made of this manuscript in preparing the history of the region, and 
it is appropriate that at this point some credit should be given in the way 
of reference to the more important chapters where his contributions as a 
historian may be read. Some of these subtitles are : History of the 
Mesaba Range ; History of Pioneer Activities in Biwabik, McKinley, 
Merritt, and Pioneer Mining in Biwabik Township ; History of the 
Incorporated Villages of Virginia and Eveleth, and History of Mining 
in the Virginia and Eveleth District; The Incorporated City of Eveleth 
and City of Virginia. 

A former publication on the iron ranges in Minnesota justly stated: 
"Considering all the results accruing from his work, it may be said with 
little fear of contradiction that no single individual contributed more 
toward bringing about the phenomenal changes which took place on the 
Range during the early years of the nineties than Mr. Adams. To 
Mr. Adams is due not only the locating and development of a number of 
the richest iron mines of the Mesaba Range, but the building of the cities 
of Virginia and Eveleth, two of the most prosperous towns upon the 
Range." 

Among the other early works for which Mr. Adams is entitled to 
credit is the map of the Mesaba Range, which was compiled and pub- 
lished in 1893. In this map the formation is traced and the principal 
mines located with a degree of accuracy which proves that he was fami- 
liar with the entire Range at that early date, and subsequent surveys have 
made very little material changes in the map of the Range. 

David Tugaw Adams has had a personal career as rugged as the 
scenes and activities that for so long proved the arena of his experience. 
He was born at Rockford, Illinois, September 6, 1859, son of Moses 
Tugaw and Jane (Castoney) Adams. The parents were born in Canada, 
moved to New York state in 1840, and several years later came west and 
for several years had their home at Rockford. About 1861 they moved to 
Chilton, Wisconsin, and in 1865 to Menasha in that state. Moses Adams 
was a butcher by trade, but was a farmer in Illinois and in Wisconsin, 
where he died in the fall of 1867. 

David T. Adams was then eight years of age. The death of the 
father left the family with limited means. The widowed mother was 
unable to support her seven children, and they were compelled to separate 
and find homes among strangers. Thus from the age of eight David 
Adams was cast upon his own resources. His boyhood naturally was 
one of privation, hard work and a great variety of experience that had 
to suffice as the chief source of an education. 

He was about twenty years of age when he came from Oshkosh, Wis- 
consin, to the mining regions of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and 
began his work as an explorer for iron ore in the vicinity of Crystal 
Falls and Iron River. This work was pursued with little profit, though 
of inestimable advantage to him in subsequent years. Seeking more 

933 



934 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

profitable fields, he left Michigan for northeastern Minnesota, and on 
June 20, 1882, arrived at Duluth. Thereafter, as the records of history 
show, no one was >o personally prominent in discovering and bringing 
to development the great iron wealth of northeastern Minnesota. His 
first investigations, beginning in the fall of 1883, did not prove particu- 
larly successful, and it is a tribute to his persistence that he kept steadily 
at work in studying and investigating until he had explored what is now 
known to the world as the great Mesaba Range. He was the first to 
promulgate the theory that this Range was at one time the shore line of 
an extinct sea. In consequence of his years of practical work there is 
no doubt that the claim will not be disputed in asserting that he is an 
authority on Minnesota mining without a superior. While his work was 
in such a large measure a great public service to the world of industry 
and to many town communities in northern Minnesota, happily his efforts 
did not go unrewarded in a material sense. 

Mr. Adams is a Republican in politics. He served as treasurer of 
Duluth Lodge of Elks No. 133 from about 1898 to 1903. He is a mem- 
ber of the Illinois Athletic Club, the South Shore Country Club and the 
Westmoreland Country Club of Chicago, of the Kitchi Gammi Club of 
Duluth, and is a member of the Lake Superior Mining Institute and the 
American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. 

At Mount Clemens, Michigan, November 23, 1908, Mr. Adams mar- 
ried Helen L. Wishart, daughter of Frank K. and Jean Wishart, of 
Scotch Canadian ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have an adopted daugh- 
ter, a niece of Mr. Adams, named Lucilla. 

Phineas Terry Brownell. From the time the first railroad was 
built into the Ely district until the present members of the Brownell 
family have been sustaining factors in business and in many lines of 
the development that have marked this progressive section of northern 
Minnesota. 

The founder of the family there was the late Phineas Terry Brownell, 
who died at Ely November 4, 1920. He was then sixty-five years of age. 
He was born at Fairhaven, Masaschusetts, a son of Henry and Harriet 
Brownell, of that state, and as a youth he attended school in his native 
town and also Bryant & Stratton Business College at Boston. Trained 
as a bookkeeper, he removed as a young man to Michigan, and for a 
time kept the books of a mining company's store. 

It was in 1886 that he joined the small group of first settlers at Tower. 
The railroad had only recently been completed to Soudan. His principal 
business connection with this community was as bookkeeper for P. J. 
Richwine in a general store, but first he was employed in the Grube meat 
market. The late Mr. Brownell came to Ely in 1889, and with Nick 
Pastoret bought a meat market. Later he became sole proprietor and 
was active head of the business of Brownell & Company until his death. 
This is one of the oldest commercial concerns under one continuous owner- 
ship in Ely. 

Phineas Terry Brownell was always eager to enlist himself in some 
cause of public and community improvement. He built one of the first 
summer homes on Burntside Lake, and was the leader in promoting the 
Ely-Burntside Outing Company, serving as its treasurer, and was largely 
instrumental in making that one of the most popular pleasure resorts in 
northern Minnesota. He was a Knight Templar Mason, affiliating with 
the Commandery at Eveleth, and in politics was a Republican. 

In Michigan Phineas T. Brownell married Louise Gertrude Hill. Five 
children were .born to their marriage and four are now living. The oldest 
is Leslie M. The second, Captain Otto B., is a graduate of the University 






\ " 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 935 

of Minnesota, and is an engineer by profession. Early in the war with 
Germany he was commissioned a captain of engineers, trained at Fort 
Leavenworth, and went to the battle front in France with the 32nd 
Division, 107th Engineers. He was formerly assistant city engineer of 
Duluth, but is now engaged in his profession at Minneapolis. The third 
son, Edward, is still associated in the meat business founded by his 
father. The only daughter, Lucia, is a student in the State University. 

Leslie M. Brownell, whose life has been one of exceptional experience 
and varied service, was born in Michigan January 21, 1882, but from 
earliest boyhood lived in northern Minnesota. He acquired his prelim- 
inary education in the Ely schools. On account of an affliction of the 
ears he went to the southwest, and continued his education in the New 
Mexico Military Institute at Roswell. He was graduated at the age of 
twenty-two and the following year remained with the school as teacher 
of Spanish and Military Science. On returning to Minnesota he was 
employed in exploration work by the Oliver Mining Company on the 
Mesaba Range. Mr. Brownell then joined the United States forest 
service, at first as a guard and after passing the Civil Service examination 
was promoted to ranger, and for six years was supervisor of the Supe- 
rior National Forest, with headquarters at Ely. Continuing in the service, 
he was transferred, and for a year and a half was supervisor at Pagosa 
Springs and Delta, Colorado. No influence and inclination is stronger 
with him than work in the open and particularly in the forests of the 
great west. While with the forestry service he built trails, surveyed roads, 
helped fight forest fires, and enjoyed to the full even the most difficult 
of his experiences. Since his father's death he has had charge of the 
business at Ely. 

In 1909 Mr. Brownell married Alma Lee, daughter of Oscar Lee, of 
Merrillan, Wisconsin. They have three children, Lee, Margery and 
Terry. Mr. Brownell is a member of the Knights of Pythias and is a 
Republican. 

Robert J. Whiteside, president of the Northern Motor Company, 
automobile distributors, has been active in the automobile business only 
about four years, and prior to that was a practical worker and technical 
man engaged in the operations of the mining and lumber district of 
northern Minnesota and other sections of the northwest. 

He was born at Severn Bridge, Canada, November 14, 1877, and 
came to America with his cousin, John A. Densmore, and located at Ely, 
Minnesota. His father, Richard Whiteside, had come to Minnesota about 
1886, and fqr many years was actively engaged in the lumber business 
at Ely. He continued in this business until about six years before his 
death. 

Robert J. Whiteside was third in a family of ten children, eight of 
whom are still living. He acquired his early education in the country 
schools of Canada and as a youth found work in the woods and acquired 
a knowledge of practically every phase of logging and lumbering. He 
graduated from laborer to the rank of compass man or cruiser and later 
was a foreman in a lumber camp on the Vermillion Range of Minnesota 
for about three years. He was then in the service of R. B. Whiteside 
in the mining and lumber business on the Range, and continued to look 
after his interests there until about 1914. Following that for just eight 
months Mr. Whiteside had some active experience in the oil industry 
in Wyoming. 

About the first of September, 1916, he returned to Duluth and entered 
the automobile business with an incorporated company. In September, 
1917, he organized the Spice Auto Company and on October 27, 1919, 



936 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

reorganized the business as the Northern Motor Company, of which 
Mr. Whiteside is president, R. F. Burke, vice president and general man- 
ager, and J. R. Belleperche, secretary. This company, whose headquarters 
are at 210-212 East Superior street, took over the business of the Spice 
Auto Company, and as a hundred thousand dollar corporation have 
ample facilities for a general business as automobile distributors. They 
have the agency for the Nash and Lexington cars. 

Mr. Whiteside is a member of the Duluth Automobile Club, the 
Sportsmen's Club, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, the 
order of Elks, and in politics is a Republican. At Ely, Minnesota, 
November 19, 1903, he married Miss Agnes S. Childers, daughter of 
Solmen S. Childers. Her parents were among the first settlers of Ely. 
Mrs. Whiteside finished her education in the schools of that place. Of 
the two children born to their marriage the one now living is Albert Owen 
Whiteside, born November 3, 1904. 

A. W. Eiler. One of the most important branches of business life 
is the supplying of the consumer with reliable foodstuffs, and when a 
man does this and renders efficient service at reasonable prices he is 
certain to attain to a high standing in his community. For a number of 
years A. W. Eiler has been in the grocery business, and he is now con- 
ducting one of the most modern of retail grocery establishments at Proc- 
tor, and is also engaged in handling a high grade of fresh and salted meats, 
the large and stable trade he has built up in both lines proving his 
dependability. 

Mr. Eiler is a native of Denmark, where he was born October 4, 1861, 
and he was nineteen years old when he left his native land for the United 
States, where he arrived in 1880. Going to Chicago, Illinois, for a time 
he worked in a leather and belt factory, but later entered a grocery 
store as a clerk, and in time saved sufficient money to start in business 
for himself as a grocer on Indiana avenue, Chicago. After two years, 
in 1884, he went to Duluth, Minnesota, and from 1884 until 1887 con- 
ducted a grocery for Charles Kresman. In the latter year he bought the 
business from his employer, and in 1891, moved it from its original 
location on Lake avenue to No. 42 West Superior street. Two years 
later Mr. Eiler moved to Fourth street, and remained there for ten years. 
He then went back to Lake avenue for eight years, at the termination 
of which period he came to Proctor and established himself in his present 
business. He carries a full and varied line of green and staple groceries 
and meats, and handles only first-class goods. In addition to carrying on 
his business in a manner to reflect credit on Proctor, he renders the 
community service in other ways, and is one of the constructive elements 
here. 

In 1889 Mr. Eiler was married to Miss Christiana Thompson, whose 
parents were natives of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Eiler became the parents 
of four children, three of whom survive, namely: William, who lives 
at Plattsville, Wisconsin ; Earl, who is a veterinary surgeon ; and Henry, 
who is a civil engineer. Mr. Eiler is a member of the order of Odd 
Fellows and the Danish Brotherhood of Duluth. In politics he is a 
Republican. A steady, hard-working and capable man, he has earned all 
he now possesses and is entitled to the prosperity he enjoys. 

August and Olef M. Johnson are among the oldest established mer- 
chants of Hibbing, and the firm of Johnson Brothers is a successful 
business partnership that has thoroughly stood the test of time. The 
brothers are men of action, "have achieved prosperity since coming to 
America through the avenues of hard work, thrift and persistence, and 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 937 

have exemplified ideals of American citizenship admirable from every 
standpoint. 

Both were born in Sweden. Their father was John Peterson and 
their mother Amelia Johanson. In the old country the family were 
farmers. The first of the children to come to America was Carl John- 
son, who reached the United States in 1888. Olef Johnson came next, 
in 1890, and found employment in sawmills at Ramsay, Michigan. In 
the spring of 1891 August and his sister Anna came over. The sister 
went on to the state of Washington, where she married and where she 
is still living. August joined his brother at Ramsay, and the three 
brothers soon removed to Ashland, Wisconsin, and worked on the break- 
water and later in the stone quarry at Presque Isle. In 1893 Carl John- 
son returned to Sweden, where he is still living. The other two brothers, 
August and Olef, worked out their destiny and have become prominent 
American citizens. For several years they continued to be employed in 
quarries in summer and in the woods in winter. In 1895 Olef came 
to Hibbing and entered the service of the old Lake Superior Iron Mining 
Company. His brother August followed him about two years later. Olef 
continued working in the mines until 1904, in which year the Johnson 
Brothers combined their capital and experience and engaged in the retail 
grocery business. They have sold goods to the community at Hibbing 
ever since, and have been deservedly prospered. 

The Johnson brothers married sisters. The wife of Olef was Emily 
Carlson, and to their union were born eleven children, named Norman, 
Earl, Ruth, Albert, Ethel, Oscar, Theresa, Helen, Frank, Leonard and 
Robert. Olef and family are Lutherans and fraternally he is a thirty- 
second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and a member of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

The wife of August Johnson was Hannah Carlson. Their three 
children are Gladys, Ewald and Wilfred. August has likewise attained 
the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry, is an Odd Fellow and 
a member of the Lutheran Church. 

C. G. Carlson is a young man with a veteran's experience in railroad 
work, and during the eight or nine years he has been identified with 
Tower as station agent he has proved one of the ablest spirits in the 
civic affairs and the general advancement of that community. 

Mr. Carlson was born on a farm in South Sweden October 6, 1889, 
only son of the seven children born to C. E. and Amanda (Carlson) 
Carlson. His parents brought their family from Sweden in 1902 and 
located at Two Harbors, Minnesota. The parents now live in Duluth, 
the father at the age of fifty-nine and the mother at fifty-seven. The 
father worked on the railroad docks and later at street paving in the 
city, of Two Harbors. He is a Republican, and always been interested 
in local affairs in the community where he has lived since coming to 
America. 

C. G. Carlson attended school at Two Harbors from the time he was 
thirteen until he was fifteen., At that early age he began railroading 
as call boy for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad. Later he was in 
the air brake department of the machine shops, also warehouse foreman 
at Two Harbors, did clerical work at depots, filled in a brief interval 
as station agent at Aurora, and was then relief man and traveling auditor. 
In 1913 he was appointed to the duties of station and express agent at 
Tower, and he has made an enviable record in faithfulness and efficiency 
to the company and in caring for the business of the community. Mr. 
Carlson had an uncle who came to northern Minnesota many years ago, 
and was at one time captain at Soudan Mine. 



938 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Carlson has served on the Tower School Board, as municipal 
judge, and has been secretary, treasurer and is now president of the 
Tower Commercial Club. He is a director of the Ten Thousand Lakes 
Association of Minnesota, a director of the Minnesota Automobile Asso- 
ciation, is a member of the St. Louis Country Club, is chairman of the 
Republican Committee in his precinct, is a Scottish Rite Mason and 
Shriner, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Mac- 
cabees, and has other fraternal and social relations. Mr. Carlson is a 
trustee of the Tower Presbyterian Church. In 1913, the year he came 
to Tower, he married Miss Pearl Morin, daughter of Peter E. Morin, 
of Tower. They have two children, Violet and Kenneth. 

A. S. Nordstrom, president of the Duluth Linen Company, is a com- 
paratively young man but has had a long business experience since he 
entered commercial life at Duluth when only a boy. 

He was born at Duluth March 13, 1887, son of Gustaf and Christine 
(Lundell) Nordstrom. His parents were born in Sweden, came to Amer- 
ica about 1885, came to the state of Minnesota soon afterward and in 
1886 established their home at Duluth. The father was a carpenter by 
trade, and followed that occupation until his death. 

Of nine children eight are still living, A. S. Nordstrom being the fourth 
in age. He attended the public schools of Duluth, but at the age of 
thirteen went to work as an errand boy, subsequently was clerk in 
the establishment of Huntington and Tallant, and continued with that 
concern until it was reorganized as the George A. Gray Company. Mr. 
Nordstrom then found an opportunity to use his modest capital and con- 
siderable experience to engage in business for himself under the firm 
name of Valentine-Nordstrom Company. They started in 1912, as dealers 
in dry goods, but primarily catering to the needs and requirements of 
hotels and hospitals. In 1915 Mr. Nordstrom withdrew from the partner- 
ship, and early in the following year established the Duluth Linen Com- 
pany, a business similar in purpose to his previous enterprise. The com- 
pany are manufacturers and wholesalers in linen and cotton goods, and 
maintain a special service supplying all the needs of large users of linen, 
such as hotels and hospitals. Mr. Nordstrom assisted in organizing the 
company and has been president since it was incorporated in 1916. John 
F. Bergin is vice president and secretary and Edward Regelsberger is 
treasurer. While the business started with a small capital and on a 
modest scale, it has grown and prospered rapidly. 

Mr. Nordstrom is a member of the Duluth Boat Club. On September 
6, 1916, he married Mrs. D. E. Tupper, of Duluth. She was educated 
in the public schools of Duluth, studied music at Owatonna, Minnesota, 
and for a time was engaged in teaching instrumental music in this city. 
Mr. and Mrs. Nordstrom have one son, whom they have named Fielder 
Albin. He is a namesake of his second cousin "Fielder Jones," the 
popular baseball player. 

Charles W. Bray, M. D., one of the leading physicians and surgeons 
of Saint Louis County, now engaged in the practice of his profession at 
Biwabik, comes of a family of physicians. His father was a physician; 
his uncle, Doctor Bray, practiced medicine at Evansville, Indiana, until 
he was seventy-two years old; a brother, Dr. Elwyn Bray, is an eye, 
ear and nose specialist of Saint Paul, Minnesota ; a cousin, Dr. Charles 
Bray, is engaged in an active practice at Portland, Maine, and his wife 
was a classmate of his and was graduated from the medical department 
of the University of Minnesota in 1895, having previously been graduated 
from its literary department in 1892. Doctor Bray is the proprietor of the 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 939 

Eiwabik Hospital, which was established in 1892 by Doctor Magie. The 
original building was destroyed by fire, and the present modern hospital 
building was erected by Doctor Bray in 1906, and he has since conducted 
the institution, which is recognized to be one of the best in the county. 

Doctor Bray was born on a farm at Young America, Minnesota, 
September 7, 1868, a son of Dr. Eben and Angie (Noyes) Bray, both of 
whom were born in Maine. Dr. Eben Bray attended medical college at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and for some years practiced medicine at Carver, Min- 
nesota, but in later years lived on a farm at Young America, this state. 
His death occurred in 1891, when he was seventy -two years old, and his 
wife died in 1915, when seventy-four years old. A leading Democrat of 
his district, he represented it in the first Territorial Legislature, and 
always maintained his interest in politics. The Baptist Church had in 
him a zealous and generous member until his death. 

Doctor Bray was graduated from the literary department of the Uni- 
versity of Minnesota in 1891 and in its medical department in 1895, and 
has since then taken up post-graduate work at Johns-Hopkins and Har- 
vard. For one year following the securing of his degree of Doctor of 
Medicine he was house physician of a Saint Paul hospital, and then for 
three years was engaged in a general practice at Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
but in 1899 came to Biwabik, taking over the hospital at that time. 

In 1899 Doctor Bray was married to Mary Bassett, a daughter of 
Robert Bassett of Hastings, Minnesota. They have four children, as 
follows: Robert, Elizabeth, Philip and Kenneth. During the late war 
Robert Bray was in the Students' Officers' Training Camp at Carleton 
College, Northfield. Dr. Bray rendered efficient service on the Medical 
Examining Board at Biwabik, and both he and his wife worked hard in 
the different campaigns to raise money for war purposes, Mrs. Bray 
being specially active in the local Red Cross. They are members of the 
Congregational Church, of which he is one of the trustees. He is a 
Shriner Mason, and well known in that fraternity. In politics he is an 
independent voter, but aside from serving on the school board has felt 
no desire for office. Doctor Bray has other interests and is now serving 
as vice president of the First National Bank of Biwabik. He is a man 
big of brain and warm of heart, and his actions mark him as a man 
upright and sincere. Professionally his skill is unquestioned, and in the 
management of his hospital he displays business ability of no mean order. 

Martin Rosendahl, who has built up one of the largest distributing 
agencies for motor cars in the northwest, has had a busy career, beginning 
when a boy, and has had every variation of experience from telegraph 
messenger boy to promoter of industrial and financial organizations. 

Mr. Rosendahl was born at Minneapolis July 18, 1878. His father, 
Peter Rosendahl, was a native of Norway, came to America in 1860 and 
first located in Minneapolis but later removed to Stoughton, Wisconsin. 
He was a cooper by trade, and while working in that vocation he also took 
a great interest in his friends and fellow countrymen. He eventually 
led a colony and founded a settlement and through his influence promoted 
its upbuilding and brought many of his friends and the people of his 
nationality to that region and gave them wise counsel and advice in 
establishing homes. His uncle, Ole Rosendahl, was the owner of a noted 
institution in Minnesota where many people still go to get the benefit of its 
celebrated mud baths. He is the original discoverer of the mud baths 
located at Jordan, Minn. 

Martin Rosendahl, the youngest of three children, acquired his early 
education in the schools of Stoughton, Wisconsin, and later attended 
school at Duluth when his parents moved here. At the age of twelve 



940 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

he was working as a messenger boy for the Union Telegraph Company. 
Subsequently he was a water carrier on the coal docks, later an employe 
of the Northwestern Fuel Company in charge of their shipping depart- 
ment, and for several years conducted some profitable cigar stores. He 
served as deputy internal revenue collector, then for two years operated 
a cut-rate ticket agency, and from that entered the brokerage business 
and in that capacity financed one of the largest mining companies in 
the north. He also became an organizer and stockholder in a large 
exploration and development company handling oil lands in eastern 
Kentucky. 

Mr. Rosendahl has concentrated most of his energies and enterprise 
upon the automobile business since 1913. He has developed about thir- 
teen local agencies in different parts of the country, his chief offices 
being at 229-231 East Superior street in Duluth, and through the Duluth 
headquarters and other agencies under his supervision he is one of the 
distributers in the United States of the Scripps-Booth, Cleveland and 
Chandler motor cars. Mr. Rosendahl is a member of the United Com- 
mercial Travelers, and belongs to the Commercial Club, to the Elks and 
Good Samaritans. He married at Duluth Miss Myra Grandy, and their 
two children are Marian and Jane. 

Niels Nissen is one of the ablest men in the insurance business in 
the northwest. His experience involves practically every phase of the 
insurance business, from that of a soliticitor and individual underwriter 
to the organizer and executive official of corporations performing the 
service of insurance. • 

Mr. Nissen was born August 23, 1876, in the Province of Slesvig. 
Slesvig was originally a part of Denmark, was taken away by Germany 
about sixty or seventy years ago, and under the terms of the treaty 
imposed on Germany by the World war has been returned to Denmark. 
Mr. Nissen acquired his education in the schools of his native province 
and in 1896 came to America alone, partly to escape compulsory service 
with the German military. His first home was at Hartford, Connecticut, 
where he was employed for a time in making automobile and bicycle tires. 
He was also in the printing business, and while there found his first 
opportunities to engage in the insurance business as a solicitor for the 
Prudential Insurance Company. With this well known corporation he 
had rapid advancement in proportion to his ability and results obtained. 
After a year he was promoted to take charge of the Prudential's office 
at Bristol, Connecticut. He remained there five years and was then 
offered the opportunity of taking charge of a new Prudential office to be 
opened at Duluth, as its superintendent. That was in 1908, and in that 
year Mr. Nissen brought his family to Duluth. After three years as 
Prudential superintendent at Duluth he resigned to become field manager 
of the agency force of the Modern Samaritans. 

Not long afterward he laid plans for the organization of a casualty 
company. He personally effected this organization, and in January, 1912, 
became president of the Duluth Casualty Association, which was incor- 
porated the 5th of January and licensed January 23, 1912. Since then he 
has become identified with the management and promotion of other cor- 
porations performing a general insurance service. Just a few days before 
the big forest fire in 1918 he was asked to take over the Farmers' Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company on account of the removal of the secretary to 
another state. He handled the affairs of that company in addition to 
his responsibilities with the Duluth Casualty Association, and when the 
business of the company was finally straightened out after the fire he 
was asked to become the permanent secretary, and that office he still holds. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 941 

Among various business enterprises with which he has been connected 
while in Duluth one of the most recent was the organization by Mr. 
Nissen in 1919 of a stock life insurance company known as the Duluth 
Liability Association. This company was licensed to do business May 
11, 1920. He is president and general manager. 

Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, the Modern Wood- 
men of America, Modern Samaritans, Danish Brotherhood and several 
other fraternities. He belongs to the Lutheran Church, and while voting 
and otherwise performing his responsibilities as a citizen and member of 
the Republican party he has never sought public office. 

July 15, 1898, at Hartford, Connecticut, he married Miss Hannah 
Peterson, daughter of Karsten Peterson, who also immigrated from 
Slesvig. Mrs. Nissen acquired her education in the schools of Hartford, 
Connecticut, and is very active in church work at Duluth. To their mar- 
riage have been born seven children, all living, named Lena, Karsten, 
Niels, Jr., Margaret, Marie, Mae and Robert. The son Karsten was 
with the colors for two years in the World war, spending one year in 
France, and for eight months of that time was in military police service at 
Paris. Mr. Nissen has his business offices in the Alworth Building, and 
he and his interesting family reside at 2622 West Sixth street. 

F. H. Sickels. The hardware and furniture house of F. H. Sickels 
is one of the leading business establishments of Proctor, and is the out- 
growth of a lifetime of endeavor on the part of the proprietor, whose 
prosperity has been gained through individual effort and the application 
of sound common sense. F. H. Sickels was born at Waukesha, Wisconsin, 
February 10, 1861, a son of George E. Sickels, who was born in the state 
of New York. His mother was a native of Connecticut. 

Mr. Sickels became a clerk in a hardware store at Saint Paul, Min- 
nesota, but about 1912 came to Proctor and bought his present hardware 
and furniture store, which he has since expanded and has built up a very 
gratifying trade. He now operates under the name of F. H. Sickels 
& Company, Mrs. Sickels, being the company. In addition to a full and 
varied line of hardware and furniture, he carries paints, oils and varnishes, 
and all of his goods are first-class in every respect. 

In November, 1912, Mr. Sickels was married to Grace E. Smith. 
Having been so fully occupied with his. business affairs, he has had no 
time to enter public life, but he has always taken an intelligent interest 
in civic matters, and can be depended upon to give an earnest support 
to all measures which he deems will be for the good of the majority. 
In all of his ventures he has displayed a natural business ability which 
has done much to place him where he is today. Until he entered the 
hardware field he was not satisfied with his experiments in business, but 
in it found what he felt was his life work, and his subsequent success 
proves that this was a fortunate move. Both he and Mrs. Sickels are 
popular with their social acquaintances, and their pleasant home is often 
the scene of delightful gatherings. 

Thomas E. Miller. Practically all the changes, developments and 
events worth recording have occurred at Ely since Thomas E. Miller 
identified himself with the pioneer community thirty odd years ago. 
Throughout that period he has been consistently engaged in the mer- 
cantile business, and is the active head of the Miller Store Company, 
one of the oldest business establishments under one management in the 
Range country. 

Mr. Miller was born at Toronto, Canada, January 14, 1865, son of 
William and Christina (Robertson) Miller. His parents were good 



942 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Scotch Presbyterian people, and after their marriage in Scotland emi- 
grated to Canada, where they lived out their lives, dying at the respective 
ages of seventy-four and sixty-nine. William Miller was an industrious 
shoemaker by trade. He had a family of six sons and three daughters. 
Three of them came to the United States, Robert S. and Thomas E.. both 
of Ely, and one daughter, Agnes, wife of Julius Goedge, now of San 
Erancisco. 

Robert S. Miller was the third merchant to start a store in the town 
of Ely. Thomas E. Miller acquired his early education at Goderich, 
Canada, and continued in school until sixteen, when he began learning 
the grocery business in the same town. For a time he was at Hayward, 
Wisconsin, and on November 1, 1888, joined his brother Robert at Ely, 
and since then has been continuously associated with the enterprise estab- 
lished by his brother. For many years this was a general merchandise 
emporium. 

The firm built up and retained a large trade, but sustained heavy 
losses in the fire of 1913. They immediately reorganized, and their suc- 
cess has been growing by rapid strides ever since. Since 1918 the busi- 
ness has been one of exclusive trade in groceries. 

Thomas E. Miller has been a merchant who has applied himself with 
few vacations to his business for over thirty years. Notwithstanding, he 
has found time to work for the general welfare of the community, par- 
ticularly being interested in the progress of education. For nine years 
he was on the School Board, and secretary of the board for four years. 
He has seen the schools of Ely grow from a little one-room schoolhouse 
to a well organized system requiring a large investment in buildings and 
a corps of teachers. Mr. Miller is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, 
a member of the Woodmen and Maccabees, is a Republican, and he and 
his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. In 1893 he married 
Mabel Walker, of Ayr, Canada. 

R. D. McKercher, the senior partner in the Oldsmobile Sales Com- 
pany, one of the oldest established automobile firms within Duluth, now 
in its twenty-second year, has been a resident of the city for a quarter of 
a century and is a former chief of police. 

He was born in Ontario, Canada, March 19, 1874, and after acquiring 
his education came to the United States at the age of twenty-one. Locat- 
ing in Duluth, he followed his trade as a blacksmith, which he had learned 
in Canada. After two years he left his trade and became clerk in the 
order department of the great wholesale house of Marshall Wells & Com- 
pany, and was there four years. He left that firm to become clerk in 
the office of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, later was foreman 
in the warehouse, and altogether spent eleven years in the service of the 
railway corporation. He left that to enter upon his public duties as 
humane agent for the city of Duluth, and after four years was appointed 
chief of police, and gave an efficient administration of that office until 
1916. At that date he engaged in the automobile business in association 
with Mr. Turner, and still later with the Oldsmobile Sales Company. 
During the past several years his business in sales of cars has increased 
more than a hundred per cent. 

Mr. McKercher has always been prominent in local civic affairs, is a 
member of the Commercial Club, Duluth Automobile Club, is affiliated 
with Palestine Lodge No. 79, A. F. and A. M., and is a member of the 
Elks, Good Samaritans and Scottish Clans. In 1896 he married Miss 
C. W. McKilligan. They have twin children, Cecil and Ella, born July 
5, 1900. 




(7r 'cO MC^z^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 943 

Carl A. Knutson. Among the younger generation of Duluth busi- 
ness men whose names are deserving of special mention for what they 
stand for in the line of achievement in their chosen vocations is Carl A. 
Knutson, a well-known realty operator. Mr. Knutson was born at Wells, 
Minnesota, September 21, 1883, a son of Martin Knutson. His father, 
a native of Norway, immigrated to the United States in 1880 with his 
wife and two children and located at Wells, Minnesota, where he engaged 
in the tailoring business. In 1890 he removed to Duluth, where he con- 
tinued in the same line of business during the remainder of his active 
years, and is now living in retirement, being sixty-seven years of age. He 
has been the father of nine children, Carl A. being the fourth in order of 
birth. 

Carl A. Knutson attended the public schools of Duluth until he reached 
the age of thirteen years, and at that time commenced herding cattle. In 
1901 he entered the realty field with the W. M. Prindle Company in the 
dual capacity of bookkeeper and cashier. From these positions he was 
advanced to the management of the rentals department of the business for 
two years, following which he went to Seattle, Washington, and for two 
years operated in the realty field there, but in 191 5 returned to Duluth 
and became manager of the Johnson Land Company, owners of a vast 
amount of property, with which concern he remained five years. From 
March, 1909, to May, 1911, he was engaged in the building business, and 
in Duluth built about thirty houses. 

Mr. Knutson embarked in business on his own account in 1920, and 
since that time has maintained offices on the seventh floor of the Palladio 
Building, where he conducts a general real estate business. His career has 
been a typical exemplification of ambitious manhood, and he is already 
accorded a place among the men whose activities are serving to maintain 
the high standard existing in real estate circles. 

Mr. Knutson has numerous important business, civic and social con- 
nections, and is a Christian Scientist in his religious belief. He was 
married July 2, 1913, at Seattle, Washington, to Miss Jessie E. Johnson, 
and to this union there has come one son, James E., born January 14, 1915. 

Robert William Acton, highway engineer for St. Louis County, is 
eminently qualified to give expert technical counsel to the county authori- 
ties in the construction of a good roads system. His long experience in 
the construction of railroads and other highways is ample proof of his 
qualifications for his present duties. < 

Mr. Acton was born in Minnesota January 27, 1881, son of Nehemiah 
Judson and Annie Mary (Manners) Acton. His father, a native of the 
province of New Brunswick, Canada, came to the United States in 1870, 
when he was fifteen years of age. For eight or nine years he worked 
in the pineries of Wisconsin. At twenty-four he moved to Dakota County. 
Minnesota, went to work on a farm, soon afterward married, and he and 
his bride moved out to the prairies of Swift County, where he took up a 
homestead. After about ten years in Swift County he moved to Lac Qui 
Parle County and continued to give his time and efforts largely to agri- 
culture until his death in 1920. His widow is still living at the age of 
sixty-three. 

Oldest of three children, Robert W. Acton spent his early life on a 
Minnesota farm, but availed himself of the opportunities of some of the 
best schools. He was graduated from the high school at Madison, Minne- 
sota, in 1900, and in the fall of the same year entered the University of 
Minnesota. While his college work was not continuous, his associations 
with the university continued until 1904. While there he specialized in 



944 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

civil engineering, but also gained much practical experience by an absence 
of several months at a time in railroad construction work. 

In 1904 Mr. Acton joined the Illinois Central Company's engineering 
department as instrument man in the construction of their lines in the 
Mississippi Delta in the state of Mississippi. He was with the Illinois 
Central about nine months and then became resident engineer of railroad 
construction for the Southern Railway in Mississippi. His service as an 
engineer in the south was terminated in the late fall of 1906 by reason of 
his having contracted malaria. 

Returning to Minnesota and after regaining his health he entered the 
employ of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway as 
engineer on location and construction, and continued that work for the 
company about five years, until 191 1. 

Mr. Acton has had some technical and engineering connections with 
the good roads activities of Minnesota for ten years. From 1911 until 
January 1, 1917, he was with the State Highway Department as division 
engineer on the location and construction of highways. At the latter date 
he took up his present work as engineer of roads for St. Louis County, 
and as such has his offices in the courthouse in Duluth. 

Mr. Acton is a member of the Minnesota Surveyors and Engineers 
Society, the Duluth Engineers Club, is a member of the Commercial Club, 
Rotary Club, Duluth Boat Club, Ridgeway Golf Club, Y. M. C. A. and 
Geneva Lodge No. 196, A. F. and A. M. October 11, 1906, he married 
Miss Lorena Young, of Columbus, Mississippi. 

Oscar G. Lindberg has been a resident of Duluth and environs for 
over a third of a century, and for many years has been active in business 
affairs at Hibbing, where he is now a member of the real estate and 
insurance firm of Dyer & Lindberg. 

He was born in Sweden July 18, 1875, and was eleven years of age 
when in 1886 the family came to the United States. The parents were 
Abraham and Maria Lindberg, who located at Duluth. The father died 
in 1918 and the mother in 1907. Three of their five children are still 
living. Oscar G. Lindberg attended school in his native country, also at 
Duluth, but at the age of fourteen went to work and for five years was 
in the service of Dr. Charles Slaughter of Duluth. Incidental to his other 
work he took up the study of medicine in the doctor's office, but abandoned 
the intention of becoming a physician. For three years he clerked in a 
drug store, later went on the road as a traveling salesman, and in 1911 
came to Hibbing and was president of the wholesale liquor house of the 
Mesaba Wholesale Liquor Company until the liquor business was abol- 
ished. For two years he was in the automobile business, but since April, 
1918, has given his time to the firm of Dyer & Lindberg. This firm has 
handled many of the real estate deals at Hibbing, South Hibbing and 
the farming district of St. Louis County. They sold about four hundred 
and fifty lots in South Hibbing. 

Mr. Lindberg was elected a member of the Village Council in 1917 
and served one year. He is a Republican, affiliated with the Improved 
Order of Red Men and the Elks, is a director of the Commercial Club 
and attends the Catholic Church. On November 18, 1903, he married 
Minnie Lana, of Duluth. 

John Runquist has been building railroads in the northwestern coun- 
try for over thirty years. He is one of the principal railroad contractors 
whose home and headquarters are at Duluth, and altogether he has been 
a factor in the good citizenship of this community for thirty-three years. 

Mr. Runquist was born in Sweden in 1862, and was reared and edu- 
cated in his native country. In 1885 he came alone to America and em- 




JOHN RUXOUIST 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 945 

ployed his modest capital and experience as a farmer at Hastings, Minne- 
sota. He left the farm to become a foreman for the Chicago, Burlington 
& Quincy Railroad while a branch of that line was being constructed in 
northern Dakota. He left the Burlington to take a similar post with the 
Great Northern Railroad, and for three years was a foreman at different 
points along that system. In 1887 Mr. Runquist came to Duluth, and 
for the following twelve years was foreman of construction on the 
Duluth and Iron Range. Since 1898 he has maintained an independent 
organization for railroad building and contracting, and handled some 
important contracts at the beginning for the Duluth and Iron Range and 
later for the Duluth and Mesaba Railway. He has also constructed and 
improved streets, made sewers, and handled other municipal contracts in 
the Morgan Park district of Duluth. He built the Duluth and Mesaba 
street car line, has done much contracting for the Great Northern Rail- 
way, and a large part of his facilities are now employed in road building 
in a number of the northern counties of Minnesota. 

Mr. Runquist is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and 
Shriner, also an Elk and a Republican in politics. 

William H. Day. No community can be sounder than the men who 
control its commercial life, for upon their energy and integrity rests the 
stability of existing institutions. To. have lived for years in one locality, 
and during that period conducted a concern with high-minded purpose, 
supplying the demand, and expanding with the growing needs of the 
populace, indicates an ability which is deserving of commendation. Wil- 
liam H. Day, the oldest established merchant now in business at 1 fibbing, 
is a man who has every reason to be proud of his long and successful 
career, and his fellow citizens accord to him a respect his honorable 
policies have won. 

William H. Day was born at Plattsburg, Clinton County, New York, 
August 8, 1864. His parents, Cyrus and Mary (Robinson) Day, were 
farmers, and for generations both families have resided in the United 
States. Both parents are now deceased, but their influence still lives, in 
the upright actions of their son. Mr. Day was reared on the home farm 
in his native county, and as a boy attended the district schools and helped 
with the work of conducting the homestead. In 1890 he came west, look- 
ing for broader opportunities, and arriving at Duluth, Minnesota, decided 
to remain there, and for two years was employed in a furniture factory of 
that city. In June, 1893, he left Duluth and came to Hibbing, and asso- 
ciating himself with the mercantile firm of O'Leary & Bowser of New 
Duluth he established a branch house at Hibbing under the name of 
( VLeary, Bowser & Day, with quarters on Pine street. While he was not 
the first merchant in the new village, he was among the first. The store 
he opened was on the site of the present Merchants & Miners State 
I tank, at the corner of Pine street and Third avenue. The firm occupied 
half of the store building owned by James Gandsey, the latter occupying 
the other half with a stock of groceries. O'Leary, Bowser & Day car- 
ried a stock of men's furnishings and some dry goods. In 1895 the firm 
bought the lot at what is now 208 Pine street and erected the present 
building, which they occupied. In about 1896 O'Leary and Bowser sold 
their interests to Frank Halvert, and the firm became Day & Halvert, 
which association was maintained for two or three years, when Mr. Day 
bought out his partner and has since continued alone, having been at his 
present location for twenty-five years. 

Mr. Day has taken a constructive part in the wonderful development 
of Hibbing, participating in all of the movements from its birth to the 
present time. When he came here it was but a little settlement of but a 



944 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

civil engineering, but also gained much practical experience by an absence 
of several months at a time in railroad construction work. 

In 1904 Mr. Acton joined the Illinois Central Company's engineering 
department as instrument man in the construction of their lines in the 
Mississippi Delta in the state of Mississippi. He was with the Illinois 
Central about nine months and then became resident engineer of railroad 
construction for the Southern Railway in Mississippi. His service as an 
engineer in the south was terminated in the late fall of 1906 by reason of 
his having contracted malaria. 

Returning to Minnesota and after regaining his health he entered the 
employ of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway as 
engineer on location and construction, and continued that work for the 
company about five years, until 191 1. 

Mr. Acton has had some technical and engineering connections with 
the good roads activities of Minnesota for ten years. From 1911 until 
January 1, 1917, he was with the State Highway Department as division 
engineer on the location and construction of highways. At the latter date 
he took up his present work as engineer of roads for St. Louis County, 
and as such has his offices in the courthouse in Duluth. 

Mr. Acton is a member of the Minnesota Surveyors and Engineers 
Societv, the Duluth Engineers Club, is a member of the Commercial Club, 
Rotary Club, Duluth Boat Club, Ridgeway Golf Club, Y. M. C. A. and 
Geneva Lodge No. 196, A. F. and A. M. October 11, 1906, he married 
Miss Lorena Young, of Columbus, Mississippi. 

Oscar G. Lindberg has been a resident of Duluth and environs for 
over a third of a century, and for many years has been active in business 
affairs at Hibbing, where he is now a member of the real estate and 
insurance firm of Dyer & Lindberg. 

He was born in Sweden July 18, 1875, and was eleven years of age 
when in 1886 the family came to the United States. The parents were 
Abraham and Maria Lindberg, who located at Duluth. The father died 
in 1918 and the mother in 1907. Three of their five children are still 
living. Oscar G. Lindberg attended school in his native country, also at 
Duluth, but at the age of fourteen went to work and for five years was 
in the service of Dr. Charles Slaughter of Duluth. Incidental to his other 
work he took up the study of medicine in the doctor's office, but abandoned 
the intention of becoming a physician. For three years he clerked in a 
drug store, later went on the road as a traveling salesman, and in 1911 
came to Hibbing and was president of the wholesale liquor house of the 
Mesaba Wholesale Liquor Company until the liquor business was abol- 
ished. For two years he was in the automobile business, but since April, 
1918, has given his time to the firm of Dyer & Lindberg. This firm has 
handled many of the real estate deals at Hibbing, South Hibbing and 
the farming district of St. Louis County. They sold about four hundred 
and fifty lots in South Hibbing. 

Mr. Lindberg was elected a member of the Village Council in 1917 
and served one year. He is a Republican, affiliated with the Improved 
Order of Red Men and the Elks, is a director of the Commercial Club 
and attends the Catholic Church. On November 18, 1903, he married 
Minnie Lana, of Duluth. 

John Runquist has been building railroads in the northwestern coun- 
try for over thirty years. He is one of the principal railroad contractors 
whose home and headquarters are at Duluth, and altogether he has been 
a factor in the good citizenship of this community for thirty-three years. 

Mr. Runquist was born in Sweden in 1862, and was reared and edu- 
cated in his native country. In 1885 he came alone to America and em- 




JOHN RUNOUIST 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 945 

ployed his modest capital and experience as a fanner at Hastings, Minne- 
sota. He left the farm to become a foreman for the Chicago, Burlington 
& Quincy Railroad while a branch of that line was being constructed in 
northern Dakota. He left the Burlington to take a similar post with the 
Great Northern Railroad, and for three years was a foreman at different 
points along that system. In 1887 Mr. Runquist came to Duluth, and 
for the following twelve years was foreman of construction on the 
Duluth and Iron Range. Since 1898 he has maintained an independent 
organization for railroad building and contracting, and handled some 
important contracts at the beginning for the Duluth and Iron Range and 
later for the Duluth and Mesaba Railway. He has also constructed and 
improved streets, made sewers, and handled other municipal contracts in 
the Morgan Park district of Duluth. He built the Duluth and Mesaba 
street car line, has done much contracting for the Great Northern Rail- 
way, and a large part of his facilities are now employed in road building 
in a number of the northern counties of Minnesota. 

Mr. Runquist is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and 
Shriner, also an Elk and a Republican in politics. 

William H. Day. No community can be sounder than the men who 
control its commercial life, for upon their energy and integrity rests the 
stability of existing institutions. Todiave lived for years in one locality, 
and during that period conducted a concern with high-minded purpose, 
supplying the demand, and expanding with the growing needs of the 
populace, indicates an ability which is deserving of commendation. Wil- 
liam H. Day, the oldest established merchant now in business at Hibbing, 
is a man who has every reason to be proud of his long and successful 
career, and his fellow citizens accord to him a respect his honorable 
policies have won. 

William H. Day was born at Plattsburg, Clinton County, New York, 
August 8, 1864. His parents, Cyrus and Mary (Robinson) Day, were 
farmers, and for generations both families have resided in the United 
States. Both parents are now deceased, but their influence still lives, in 
the upright actions of their son. Mr. Day was reared on the home farm 
in his native county, and as a boy attended the district schools and helped 
with the work of conducting the homestead. In 1890 he came west, look- 
ing for broader opportunities, and arriving at Duluth, Minnesota, decided 
to remain there, and for two years was employed in a furniture factory of 
that city. In June, 1893, he left Duluth and came to Hibbing, and asso- 
ciating himself with the mercantile firm of O'Leary & Bowser of New 
Duluth he established a branch house at Hibbing under the name of 
O'Leary, Bowser & Day, with quarters on Pine street. While he was not 
the first merchant in the new village, he was among the first. The store 
lie opened was on the site of the present Merchants & Miners State 
Hank, at the corner of Pine street and Third avenue. The firm occupied 
half of the store building owned by James Gandsey, the latter occupying 
the other half with a stock of groceries. O'Leary, Bowser & Day car- 
ried a stock of men's furnishings and some dry goods. In 1895 the firm 
bought the lot at what is now 208 Pine street and erected the present 
building, which they occupied. In about 1896 O'Leary and Bowser sold 
their interests to Frank Halvert, and the firm became Day & Halvert, 
which association was maintained for two or three years, when Mr. Day 
bought out his partner and has since continued alone, having been at his 
present location for twenty-five years. 

Mr. Day has taken a constructive part in the wonderful development 
of Hibbing, participating in all of the movements from its birth to the 
present time. \\ nen he came here it was but a little settlement of but a 



946 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

few inhabitants. There were no sidewalks, no light or water plants, in 
fact nothing in the way of improvements except those made by the per- 
sons buying land and putting up small buildings. He has witnessed th-3 
changes'of more than a quarter of a century, and during that period the 
meager beginnings have been transformed into the Hibbing of today. Mr. 
Day has been an integral factor in effecting these remarkable changes. In 
the early days of Hibbing he served as town clerk, and subsequently has 
been on the School Board. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
and was a charter member and one of the organizers of Forest City Lodge 
No. 143, K. of P. 

In 1908 Mr. Day was united in marriage with Amanda Shellman, of 
Fergus Falls. Minnesota, and they had one daughter, Elizabeth Jnger. 
Mrs. Day died July 11. 1911, and was deeply mourned not only by her 
family but a wide circle of friends. Mr. Day is a man who has always 
understood the fundamentals of commercial life, and possessed the will 
and resourcefulness necessary to develop to the utmost his opportunities. 
He is not only a prosperous man, but he has always given bountifully of 
his means and time to the advancement of his community and has en- 
deavored to support those ideals and standards which go to make the real 
American citizen. 

John Shambeau. Success in the highly specialized field of life insur- 
ance is perhaps the best tribute that can be paid to one's commercial 
qualifications, since it involves necessarily the highest personal integrity 
and intelligent enterprise. A striking success in this line has been 
achieved by John Shambeau, who came to Duluth a dozen years ago and 
is now general agent for northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin 
representing the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. 

Mr. Shambeau was born at Two Rivers, Wisconsin, October 20, 1876. 
He came to Duluth June 10, 1908, to engage in the life insurance business 
as general agent for the above named company. Hp to that time the 
Massachusetts Life Insurance Company had practically no insurance in 
force in St. Louis County. It was a virgin field so far as this old com- 
pany was concerned. Mr. Shambeau and a partner under the firm name 
of McXally & Shambeau went to work and in a few years had demon- 
strated the quality of their enterprise and their untiring vigor in writing 
insurance, and their agency came to be considered the largest and most 
active life insurance agency in the city in point of volume of insurance 
written and maintained. In 1920 the partnership arrangement was dis- 
solved, and since then Mr. Shambeau has assumed sole charge of the 
Duluth agency, which covers the territory of all of northern Minnesota 
and northern Wisconsin. At the same time he has associated with him 
several very active insurance men, and they are assisting him in main- 
taining the very creditable record established by the agency in the past. 

Mr. Shambeau since coming to Duluth has identified himself with the 
best interests of the city and the citizens, was a member of several patri- 
otic organizations during the World war, and was one of the organizers of 
the New Lion Club, a civic organization composed of some of the finest 
types of Duluth American citizenship. He is also a member of several 
other clubs and commercial and fraternal organizations. 

James A. Starkweather made a definite choice of a career as an 
educator when a young man. For all the financial sacrifice that such a 
choice imposes he has compensating satisfaction and honors during the 
nearly twenty years he has devoted to his work in the schoolroom and 
in administrative offices. Mr. Starkweather has been connected with the 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 947 

school system of Duluth for the past four years and is assistant super- 
intendent of schools. 

He was born at Divernon, Illinois, December 30, 1876, son of Daniel H. 
and Sarah (Utt) Starkweather, the former a native of Illinois and the 
latter of Kentucky. Old records show that the first American Stark- 
weathers were established in Boston as early at 1640. Professor Stark- 
weather's grandparents drove an ox team and rode in a covered wagon 
all the way from Vermont to Jersey County, Illinois, where they were 
pioneer settlers. His maternal grandparents were Kentucky pioneers. 

Mr. Starkweather's father is still living and is one of the oldest resi- 
dents of Sangamon County, Illinois, in which is located the state capital, 
Springfield. His life has been expressed in substantial industry and posi- 
tive and earnest convictions and influences that tend to elevate the stan- 
dard of living in American communities. For twenty-one years he served 
as justice of the peace in his township and for twenty-four years on the 
district school board. His business has been that of farming. He cast 
his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln and has never deviated 
from Republican principles. Perhaps his greatest interest has been his 
religious life and for many years he has been a leader in the Baptist 
Church of his community and has helped establish three other Baptist 
Churches in the county. Mr. Starkweather of Duluth says: "My earliest 
recollection of father is that of his early rising Sunday morning when 
we all prepared to drive five miles, often through mud hub deep, to the 
Sunday School." 

Next to the youngest in a family of four children, all of whom are 
still living, James A. Starkweather had the environment of a southern 
Illinois farm during his boyhood and attended country schools. At the 
age of eighteen he entered the Academy of Shurtleff College at Alton, and 
in six years he completed the equivalent of four years' high school and 
four years' college work, graduating valedictorian of his class in 1901 and 
with the A. B. degree. From Shurtleff College he entered directly into his 
chosen vocation, taught at Albion, Illinois, and in September, 1902, 
removed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and was identified with the school life 
of that city fifteen years. He was a teacher in high school, then grade 
school principal, and finally junior high principal. While at Kalamazoo 
he continued his studies through vacation periods, and in June, 1917, was 
awarded the Master degree at Columbia University, New York. 

Mr. Starkweather was called to Duluth as principal of the Lincoln 
Junior High School in September, 1917. About a year later, in Novem- 
ber, 1918, he was chosen for special work for the United States govern- 
ment in the Department for Rehabilitation of Soldiers, and continued in 
that work during the months immediately following the war. In August, 
1919, Mr. Starkweather assumed his present duties as assistant superin- 
tendent of schools. 

He is a member of Ionic Lodge of Masons at Duluth, the Curling 
Club, the Commercial Club, the Ridgewood Golf Club, and in politics is a 
Republican. 

Fred B. James is a pioneer of Ely. His name and activities have been 
closely associated with every constructive phase in that community's 
progress. He has done his share as an independent business man and also 
as a public offilcial. He is the present city assessor of Ely. He entered 
that office in 1916, and the responsibilities of his office have greatly in- 
creased during his administration, the best index of which is the fact that 
the assessed valuation of property in Ely has increased during that time 
from $1,939,000 to $4,984,000. 

Vol. Ill — 2 



948 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. James was born in Cornwall, England, September 30, 1866, son 
of Charles F. and Amelia (Harvey) James, the former a native of Corn- 
wall and the latter of London. His father was in the jewelry business at 
Truro, Cornwall. When Fred B. James was a child the family came to 
America and settled at Evansville, Indiana, later at New Harmony, Indi- 
ana, and from there removed to Decatur, Illinois, where Charles James 
died in 1888, at the age of seventy-three. After his death most of the 
family removed to Chicago. 

Fred B. James acquired his early education at New Harmony, Indiana. 
At the age of fifteen he began an apprenticeship to learn the painter's 
trade with his uncle, S. C. James, at Evansville. As a journeyman or 
contractor Mr. James was in the painting business altogether for a quar- 
ter of a century. His business experience had a wide range, including 
work and residence at St. Louis, in the Dakotas and at Chicago, and he 
first came to the Ranges of northern Minnesota with his uncle, H. R. 
Harvey. H. R. Harvey was a distinguished character in the mining dis- 
trict, having had charge of the exploration work on the Ranges during 
1873-1889 and also performed preliminary services before the opening 
of the Zenith and Pioneer Mines at Ely. 

Fred B. James first came to the Ranges in 1886, and lived here until 
1892. The following eight years he spent in North Dakota and four years 
in Chicago, and in 1904 returned to Ely, where he resumed his business 
as a painter and contractor. Mr. James helped survey the townsite of 
Ely, also to build the first house, and signed the petition for the incorpora- 
tion of the village. He was for three terms a member of the City 
Council. A public service to which he was greatly devoted was the five 
years he spent as state game warden. In the discharge of his duties he 
traveled all over the Lake district. Mr. James is regarded as a competent 
authority on all the historical events that have transpired in this section 
of the Range country. He is a Republican, and his family are Catholics. 

In 1891, in North Dakota, Mr. James married Alice L. Cadieux, 
daughter of Louis Cadieux. Her mother was a McCluskey, a niece of the 
first American cardinal, McCluskey. Louis Cadieux came from France, 
while his wife was born at Toronto, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. James have 
six children. Fred C. was with a Minnesota regiment on the Mexican 
border in 1916, and after helping train four outfits he went overseas to 
France with Battery A of the 125th Field Artillery with the rank of top 
sergeant. He was near the battle front when the armistice was signed. 
He is now in the electrical supply business at Escanaba, Michigan. The 
second child of Mr. James is Mercedes, wife of Albert Prisk, of Ely. 
John H. lives at Ely. Alice is the wife of H. C. Liffingwell, of Minne- 
apolis. Marjorie and Natalie, the youngest, are still in the home circle. 

Hon. Hugh Fawcett, a representative from Duluth in the Legisla- 
ture, has been a resident of the city nearly forty years, and independently 
or working with others has been identified with a large and important 
plan of building construction, including many of the prominent features of 
the city's architecture both of the modern and pre-modern period. 

Mr. Fawcett was born in England August 17, 1861. He is of English 
Puritan ancestry, and his father was also a leading contractor, living at 
Blackburn, where the family had resided for several generations. Hugh 
Fawcett came to America alone in 1881, and for six months was em- 
ployed as a carpenter, a trade he learned in England, at Toronto, Canda. 

In 1882 he moved to Duluth, and has ever since been engaged in some 
phase of the building business. For two years he was foreman for John 
Waddell, and then became associated with the firm of Watenvorth & Fee, 
contractors, during the construction of the Lincoln School and the Duluth 




fi^uLaJi. iccuj^^tr 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 949 

Central High School. Following his work on these school buildings he 
was engaged as superintendent of construction by the Duluth Board of 
Education in 1890. Under his superintendency were erected the Adams, 
Monroe, Jefferson, Webster, Bryan and Fairmount Schools. He resigned 
as superintendent of construction to engage in the contracting business 
with Mr. H. Pearson, under the name Pearson & Fawcett. To this firm 
are credited the building of the Public Library and a number of large 
structures in the city. Since the dissolution of the partnership Mr. Faw- 
cett has continued business alone, and has developed a highly expert and 
adequate organization for handling the best class of building contracts. 
Much of his work has continued in school building construction, and the 
record includes the high school, county building and grade school at 
Two Harbors, the Courthouse at Hibbing, the Public Library at Buhl, 
the High School at Tower, and many of the modern structures on 
Superior street in Duluth. The present program on which his organiza- 
tion is engaged includes the erection of two school houses, the Franklin 
and the Liberty, at Duluth, and a grade school at McKinley, Minnesota. 
For a number of years Mr. Fawcett's business headquarters have been in 
the Mesaba Block in Duluth. 

An able business man, known as an organizer and executive, Mr. Faw- 
cett had every qualification for good work in the Legislature. He was 
elected and has served during the 1919-21 session in the House of Repre- 
sentatives from the 58th District. His attitude as a legislator is reflected 
in the deep interest in the Compensation Law, the Soldiers' Bonus and the 
law regulating cold storage as a factor in the high cost, of living problem, 
the theory being that reducing the time for storage would prevent hoard- 
ing of products from the markets. He was opposed to the Tonnage Tax. 
Mr. Fawcett is affiliated with Palestine Lodge No. 79, A. F. and A. M. 

On November 13, 1883, in the Baptist Church of Duluth, he married 
Miss Emily King, whose people came from England. She has been 
greatly devoted to her home and family through all her married life. 
Four children were born to their marriage, Emelia, William, Fred and 
Gilbert. Emelia is Mrs. William Killgore, living in the Bergman Flats. 
William died of typhoid fever. Fred is foreman of bricklayers in his 
father's organization. Gilbert is private secretary to a railway executive 
in California. All the children were given high school educations. 

Charles Zalmon Wilson has been identified with the citizenship of 
Duluth and St. Louis County for only half a dozen years, but had long 
training and increasing responsibilities in the service of the United States 
Steel Corporation elsewhere, and his special qualifications as a mercantile 
manager were the reasons for his selection for an important post under 
that corporation in the Duluth district. 

Mr. Wilson was born at Scottdale, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1876, 
being the youngest of a family of six children, four sons and two daugh- 
ters. His father, Perry B. Wilson, was a man of great strength of char- 
acter and benevolent disposition, was a cooper by trade in the days 
when the work of that craft was done exclusively by hand, and was 
regarded as a genius in that line. He was of Scotch parentage and was 
born February 20, 1834, and died September 8, 1913, when nearly eighty 
years of age. He had lived for forty-five years on Walnut Hill, a beau- 
tiful home a mile east of Scottdale. During the Civil war he served as a 
volunteer of the 85th Pennsylvania Volunteers, enlisting in Company K 
of that regiment under Captain H. Zalmon Ludington (for whom his 
son was named), and Colonel Joshua B. Howell, on November 6, 1861. 
Among the battles in which he participated were the siege of Yorktown ; 
. Williamsburg, May 5, 1862; Bottom Bridge, May 20th; Fair Oaks, May 



950 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

21st; seven days retreat, June 26th-July 1st; Fredericksburg, December 
13th; White Hall, December 17th; Blackwater and Savage Station. In 
one battle the small finger on his left hand was shot off, and he con- 
tracted rheumatism that disabled him for work the rest of his life. He 
was honorably discharged on a surgeon's certificate of disability February 
17, 1863. November 15, 1892, the family was presented with his war 
record as an object lesson of patriotism. This record is an easel monu- 
ment now highly prized by his son, C. Z. Wilson. 

Perry B. Wilson married Sarah Clark April 26, 1863. She was born 
in County Down, Ireland, June 24, 1843, coming to this country when 
nine years of age. She died February 20, 1907. Her memory is cherished 
as that of a good mother, industrious in the home, and she constantly 
derived pleasure for herself by helping others and through her interest in 
church duties. Of the six children of these parents a daughter, Elmeda 

B. Wilson, died at the family residence on Walnut Hill November 6, 
1916, at the age of forty-three. A son, Harry_ C. W'ilson, who was prom- 
inent in business and social affairs, died at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 
luly 30, 1917, survived by his wife and one grown daughter. The living 
"members of the family are : Mrs. Elizabeth Heney, of Scottdale ; Abram 

C, superintendent for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Pitcairn, 
Pennsylvania, married Ida M. Flack and has a family of seven children ; 
Chester R., engaged in the hardware, automobile and insurance business 
at Avonmore, Pennsylvania ; and Charles Z. 

Perry B. Wilson in politics was a Republican. Throughout western 
Pennsylvania he .was well known for his loyalty to party and his broad 
knowledge of public affairs. He was never known to miss casting his 
ballot at all elections, and at times got out of a sick bed to be driven to 
the polls. 

Charles Z. Wilson was deprived of the opportunities of a college edu- 
cation, but attended the little country school on Walnut Hill, where he 
gained knowledge of the fundamentals of reading, writing, spelling, gram- 
mar, arithmetic, geography, history and physiology. He had abundant 
opportunity to work, and industry, together with the courage to dare to 
do, have perhaps been the chief features of his success in life. During 
school vacations he worked in coal mines. On completing his common 
school education at the age of sixteen he received a county school super- 
intendent teacher's certificate, with a high percentage, though on account 
of his youth he was unable to qualify as a teacher. This led him to 
apply for work in a grocery store, and he began driving a delivery wagon, 
later was promoted to clerk in the same store at $20 a month, and before 
the year was out he joined A. Overholt & Company's general store at 
West Overton, Pennsylvania, the same locality, by the way, in which the 
late steel magnate, Henry Clay Frick, was born. While there Mr. Wilson 
gained a general knowledge of all lines of merchandising, and after the 
day's routine of duties he did book work for the firm at night. This was 
the sphere of his activity until he resigned to go to war, enlisting with the 
10th Pennsylvania Infantry at the beginning of the Spanish-American 
war. He was rejected because he was under weight, and a month after 
leaving the store he entered business for himself, buying the shoe stock 
of Byrnes Brothers on Pittsburgh street, Scottdale. He handled this en- 
terprise very successfully for two years, then sold out to Charles Herbert, 
of Scottdale, and began what has proved a long and uninterrupted service 
with the United States Steel Corporation. He was first assigned to the 
general store at Hazlett, Pennsylvania, ten months later was commis- 
sioned with the duty of opening a store at Alverton in that state, and 
after getting the business properly stocked and organized and in a little 
less than a year was again transferred to a new store at Marguerite, Penn- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 951 

sylvania. Here a beautiful new building and equipment was turned over 
to Mr Wilson, and for four years he was in full charge, his ability, natural 
and acquired 'by experience, then securing his promotion to Bridgeville, 
near Pittsburgh, where he opened two new stores for the corporation, and 
successfully managed them for thirteen years. 

On leaving Bridgeville to come to Duluth, the Carnegie Signal Item 
of December 30, 1915, published the following leader article: "C. Z. 
Wilson, an employe of the United States Steel Corporation for seventeen 
years, has been very highly honored for his faithful services bv being 
appointed to a responsible position for the same company at Duluth. Mr. 
Wilson came to Bridgeville twelve years ago from Scottdale, a son of the 
late Perry B. Wilson, who was a member of the 85th Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers in the Civil war. C. Z., as he is familiarly known, had charge of 
the mercantile interests for the Union Supply Company at Sygan, Penn- 
sylvania. His personality, honest, upright dealings in business with all 
classes of pepole had won for him the real friendship of everyone in the 
Millers Run district, and all are sorry to see him leave. Mr. Wilson will 
be missed among the poor, as he was always mindful of looking after 
the sick and needy. Enthusiasm with proper direction and keen interest 
in all matters of business and otherwise gained success for him during the 
twelve years of service in our neighborhood. It would be considered 
selfish to not wish him well in his new field, knowing full well that he is a 
man to make friends wherever he goes. Mr. Wilson was school director 
of South Fayette township and re-elected at the last election by the 
largest vote cast for any one candidate on the ticket. The editor has had 
the pleasure of visiting Mr. Wilson several times at Christmas and see 
him handle the hundreds of children and grown people that it was the 
custom for years to make happy at Chritsmas with the treat furnished 
for the purpose by the Union Supply Company." 

In November, 1915, Mr. Wilson reached Duluth for the purpose of 
taking charge of the Lake View Store at Morgan Park. In half a dozen 
years he has achieved something worthy of a long memory in St. Louis 
County. Through his management of the Lake View store at Morgan 
Park he has gained a wide and admiring following of friends. He pos- 
sesses an inspiring personality, never failing geniality, patience, tolerance 
and charity, and firmly believes that no man is big enough to be independ- 
ent of others. In less than a year after coming to Duluth he supervised 
the building, planned and purchased the entire equipment and stock of 
merchandise for all departments, systematized the plan for operating and 
organized a sales force for handling the business. This is now an institu- 
tion known throughout the state, and people come from far and near to 
learn the systematic operation of the store, where well trained employes 
and discipline give efficiency in every department. As a merchant Mr. 
Wilson caters to the patrons' requirements, anticipates his merchandise 
wants well in advance, and has a thorough knowledge of merchandise and 
market conditions. Traveling salesmen have frequently expressed them- 
selves in praise of this Minnesota merchant because of his congenial and 
diplomatic manner of handling all matters pertaining to a store. Though 
a very busy man, everyone is extended a courteous welcome to his private 
office. He realizes one important definition of a successful executive, 
being prompt in decision and quick in action, and through experience 
makes few mistakes. When his word is given it is as good as a Govern- 
ment bond. He is happy and cheerful, and this quality of his disposition 
radiates over everything and everyone with whom he comes in contact. 
Faithful to every trust and duty, by strict application to business for many 
years he has realized a very high standard of efficiency and also a broad 



952 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

knowledge of the complicated problems involved in successful merchan- 
dising. 

Mr. Wilson is active in social and fraternal affairs, thoroughly public 
spirited, and a worker for everything that makes a better community. He 
is affiliated with Lafayette Lodge No. 652, F. and A. M., at Carnegie, 
Pennsylvania ; Gourgas Lodge of Perfection of the Scottish Rite at Pitts- 
burgh, Aad Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Duluth, was one of the organ- 
izers and charter members of Duluth Forest No. 47, Tall Cedars of 
Lebanon, a member of the New Duluth-Gary Commercial Club, Morgan 
Park Club and Good Fellowship Club of Morgan Park. He is a member 
of the Presbyterian Church of Duluth, his letter having been transferred 
from the Bethany Presbyterian Church of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, a 
short time after he moved to Duluth. 

During the World war he was active in promoting all movements in- 
cluded in the Government plan of prosecuting the war to success. He 
was appointed United States food administrator as merchant representa- 
tive of the Food Administration for the Morgan Park Division for Duluth, 
including Smithville, Fond du Lac, Gary and New Duluth. The Duluth 
Evening Herald said: "Mr. Wilson's appointment was due to the way 
in which he had been carrying out the ideas of the Food Administration. 
On his own initiative he undertook educational work and prepared in- 
struction letters which he sent out to the people in his section. His work 
has been both patriotic and efficient, Food Administration officials declare." 

At Cumberland, Maryland, October 16, 1903, Mr. Wilson married 
Daisy Dean McDowell, of Pleasant Unity, Pennsylvania. The home of 
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson is at 126 North Boulevard, Morgan Park. Mrs. 
W'ilson is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank McDowell. Her father up 
to the time of his death in 1900 was a professor in Indiana schools. Her 
mother makes her home at present with Mrs. Wilson. 

Peter L. DeVoist is a man of wide business experience, not only in 
general commercial operations but particularly in the timber industry. 
He has handled the timber operations of a number of corporations in the 
Range country of northern Michigan and Minnesota, and is in charge of 
that department for the Mesaba-Cuyuna Iron Land Company, with offices 
in the Sellwood Building at Duluth. 

Mr. DeVoist, who is of Huguenot descent, was born in New York 
state January 12, 1857, and was about thirteen years of age when he 
came west to Michigan. He finished his education in that state and there 
for twelve years was in the mercantile business. From there he came to 
Duluth and became chief clerk in the timber department of the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company. For a time he was an employe in a mercantile 
house at Duluth, and then became superintendent of the Mashek Lumber 
Company at Chisholm. Since 1918 he has been in charge of the mineral 
and timber lands of the Mesaba-Cuyuna Iron Land Company and has 
arranged for the leasing of valuable properties on the iron ranges. 

Mr. DeVoist was married December 31, 1890, to Miss Ida E. LeDuc, 
of Michigan. Her father moved to Michigan from Quebec, Canada, her 
mother being of German descent. 

John E. Porthan is a merchant and is manager of the Finnish 
Stock Company of Ely. 

This company was organized in March, 1899, to do a general merchan- 
dise business. Its organizers were John E. Porthan, Andrew Watilo and 
Eric Lund. Their joint capital was only thirteen hundred dollars. The 
business has grown and expanded, and the company is now one of the 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 953 

most prosperious of those performing a mercantile service in the Range 
district. The company owns its fine storeroom and warehouses. 

John E. Porthan was born in Finland in 1871. He acquired his edu- 
cation in Finland and was unable to speak a word of English when he 
reached the United States in 1890, at the age of nineteen. His first loca- 
tion was at Lead in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where for six 
months he was a railroad laborer. In February, 1891, he arrived at Ely 
and went to work in the Chandler Mine. For the next eight years his 
was a process of earning and saving, a growing knowledge of American 
life and ways, and a broadly extending acquaintance with the men of his 
district. Thus he was well qualified to prosecute to success the business 
of which he has been manager since 1899. 

Mr. Porthan also served as a member of the City Council at Ely for 
four years. He is a member and one of the trustees of the Finnish 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, is a member of the Finnish Society K. R. 
and the Temperance Society. 

In 1893 he married Edla M. Kinnari, also a native of Finland. They 
have a large family of eight living children. Their son George E. joined 
the Third Minnesota Regiment in 1917, was trained at Camp Cody, New 
Mexico, and thence sent with six hundred replacement troops to France 
in June, 1918. He was in the battles of the Aisne and the Argonne 
Forest, and wounds received at the battle front caused his death Feb- 
ruary 3, 1919. He had been transferred from the Third Minnesota to 
Battery B of the Artillery and later to the Infantry. Another son, Matt, 
was a member of the Students Army Training Corps at the State Uni- 
versity. 

Alfred S. Diehl is a graduate engineer from the University of 
Wisconsin and left the university to become identified with the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company. In the service of that great corporation he has 
risen to the' post and' responsibilities of chief engineer of the Hibbing 
district. 

Mr. Diehl was born at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, October 30, 1877, son 
of Samuel and Annie (Dorner) Diehl. His parents were both born in 
this country of remote German ancestry. Samuel Diehl was a machinist 
by trade and during the greater part of his active life was employed 
in railroad work. He died in 1890 at the age of forty-two. 

One of four children, Alfred S. Diehl was thirteen years old when 
his father died. In 1894 he graduated from high school at Elroy, Wis- 
consin, and almost immediately had to secure work and from boyhood 
has depended upon his own exertions and has relied upon himself to 
realize his plans and ambitions. Up to the age of twenty-one he worked 
at whatever employment offered the most money and the most oppor- 
tunity. In 1898 he went into the United States railway mail service, 
and continued therewith for five years. Realizing that this service offered 
no advancement for a future worth while, he resigned and used what 
capital he had been able to accumulate to put him through the University 
of Wisconsin. In 1907 he graduated in the civil engineering course and 
already had become identified with the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 
During the summers of 1905 and 1906 he was connected with the engi- 
neering department of that company at Coleraine, Minnesota. A few 
months after graduating Mr. Diehl returned to Coleraine in August, 
1907, and was on the engineering staff of the company in different capac- 
ities until 1912, when he was appointed chief engineer of the Canisteo 
District. In May, 1920, he was transferred to his present duties as chief 
engineer of the Hibbing District. 



954 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Diehl is a member of the Engineers Club of Northern Minnesota, 
and also the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. 
He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Congregational Church 
and a Republican voter. On August 24, 1915, he married Miss Bonnie 
Jones, of Coleraine, Minnesota. 

Frank Augustine Wildes of Hibbing, well known in the Range 
country both as a lawyer and mining engineer, has spent most of his 
life in Minnesota and was a teacher before he began the practice of law. 

He was born at Phippsburg, Maine, May 28, 1871, son of Frank A. 
and Emily Virginia (Burke) Wildes. Both his father and his maternal 
grandfather fought as soldiers on the Union side during the Civil war. 
His ancestry goes back to England but the family was planted in the 
Colonies of Massachusetts and Maryland, and some of the family were 
represented by soldiers in the Revolutionary war. 

Frank A. Wildes attended the common schools of Minnesota, and 
after graduating from the State Normal School of Mankato in 1894 
pursued the vocation of teaching for a number of years as a superin- 
tendent of public schools. In the meantime he took up the study of 
law, and in 1904 received the LL.B. degree from the University of Minne- 
sota. Since coming to the Range country much of his work has been 
done in organizing and developing the Mineral Lands Department of 
the state of Minnesota, and he has served as superintendent of mines 
in that department. 

Mr. Wildes is a director of the Minnesota Federation of Architects 
and Engineers Society, is a member of the Engineers Club of Northern 
Minnesota, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engi- 
neers, belongs to the Bar Association, the Hibbing Commercial Club, the 
Hibbing Kiwanis Club, and to the University of Minnesota Alumni Asso- 
ciation. Mr. Wildes is an honorary thirty-third degree Scottish Rite 
Mason, served as master of Mesaba Lodge No. 255 at Hibbing in 1913, 
and was venerable master of Iron Range Lodge of Perfection No. 8 
at Hibbing from 1909 to 1912. He is a member of the Shrine and 
Acacia Fraternity. Politically he is a Republican. 

On September 7, 1909, at Hibbing, he married Edith Lany Bush, 
daughter of Hezekiah and Helen M. (Childs) Bush. Her father was a 
Civil war veteran. Mrs. Wildes, who is a graduate of Carleton College, 
is the mother of one daughter, Helen Virginia Wildes. 

Allan R. Macaulay. One of the leading business men and best 
known citizens of Duluth is Allan R. Macaulay, manager of the firm of 
Logan and Bryan, dealers in stocks, bonds and grain, with offices in 
Duluth, and all principal cities in the United States and Canada. 
Mr. Macaulay has succeeded in his business because he has been persist- 
ent and energetic and honorable in his dealings with the public, and 
he has therefore had the confidence and good will of all, which are 
indispensable factors if one succeeds in any line where the public has 
to be depended upon. 

Allan R. Macaulay was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on April 24, 1886, 
and at the age of two years was brought to the United States by his 
parents, who located in Duluth. His father first became a partner in 
the Messick Commission Company, under the firm name of Messick & 
Macaulay, which association lasted for eight years. He then formed a 
connection with the Victor Commission Company, with which he re- 
mained identified until 1912, when he retired and is now living in Duluth, 
at the age of fifty-eight years. He is the father of six children, all of 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 955 

whom are living and of whom the subject of this sketch was the first 
born. 

Allan R. Macaulay received his educational training in the public 
schools of Duluth, having reached the Junior High School. After leaving 
school he started to work for the North American Telegraph Company 
as a messenger boy, and afterward learned telegraphy. He then turned 
his attention to baseball, in which he became a professional player, first 
around Duluth and then in the Western Canadian League, with which 
he played for two years, or up to 1913, as second baseman and outfielder. 
He then again took up telegraphy, working for the Associated Press 
Until 1917, when he engaged in the stock brokerage business with the 
firm of R. W. Harrington, with whom he remained about a year. He 
then organized the Culbertson-Macaulay Company, dealers in stocks, 
bonds and grain, Mr. Culbertson being later succeeded by *M. Bliss Rob- 
inson, under the style of Robinson-Macaulay Company, and they con- 
tinued in this business until 1920, when Logan & Bryan opened their 
office here, with Mr. Macaulay as manager. Mr. Macaulay has been 
deeply interested in the growth and development of Duluth, having 
assisted in the promotion of various business enterprises. He is also 
one of the promoters of the Inter-Southern Oil and Refining Company. 

Politically he is a Republican, while fraternally he is a member of the 
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons (Blue Lodge and Chapter), the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Clan Stewart. He 
is also a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Duluth Curling Club and the 
Duluth Boat Club. His religious membership is with the Presbyterian 
Church. 

On June 15, 1914, Mr. Macaulay was married to Marie Smith, the 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Smith, of Superior, Wisconsin, in the 
public and high schools of which city she received her education. To 
them have been born two children, namely: Jane, born March 9, 1915, 
and Donald, born on April 7, 1918. Mr. Macaulay has been distinctively 
a man of affairs, wielding a wide influence among those with whom he 
has been associated, ever having the welfare of his community at heart 
and doing what he could to aid in its advancement. Sound judgment 
and keen discrimination have characterized his business actions, and he 
enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him. 

C. Ray Pattinson. Among the recent acquisitions of the realty 
business at Duluth is C. Ray Pattinson, who during a short but remark- 
ably active and progressive career has advanced steadily to a leading 
position among the younger generation of operators of the city. He was 
born July 31, 1886, at Duluth, a son of Charles D. Pattinson. 

Charles D. Pattinson was born at Carlisle, Cumberland, England, 
and as a young man came to the United States, where he first found 
employment in the locomotive shops at Pittsburgh. Later he turned his 
attention to railroading, which he followed for about thirty-five years. 
He operated one of the first trains that ran into Duluth on the Northern 
Pacific Railroad, at that time the old St. Paul & Duluth, and was the 
first yardmaster for the Northern Pacific at the West End yards and 
helped lay the foundation for the terminal at that end of the city. He 
took up his permanent residence at Duluth in 1908, but is now retired 
from active pursuits and resides at the Metropole Hotel, being seventy- 
six years of age. Of the five children two daughters and a son still 
survive, the daughters having been formerly teachers in the public 
schools of Duluth. 



956 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

The youngest of his parents' children, C. Ray Pattinson secured his 
education in the public schools of Duluth, and after graduating from 
the Central High School went to work for the Duluth Water and Light 
Company. There his industry, ability and fidelity gained him promotion 
to the office of assistant secretary, but in 1917 he resigned this position 
and entered the real estate business with Prindle & Company, a concern 
with which he remained two years. When Earl E. and Harold H. Pat- 
tinson, sons of the late W. H. Pattinson, returned from service in the 
United States Navy, C. Ray Pattinson joined them, March 1, 1919, in 
the formation of the Pattinson Realty Company, which operates the 
Pattinson Estate, representing about $1,000,000 worth of property in 
the Twin Ports, and also handles other rentals for apartment houses and 
represents several insurance companies. During the first year of its 
business life this concern transacted about $1,500,000 worth of business, 
the largest sale being that of the Lyceum Theatre Building to the Clin- 
ton-Meyers Company for a consideration of $325,000. Mr. Pattinson 
was one of the promoters of the Pioneer Improvement Company for the 
purpose of building an apartment house on East London Road, an 
enterprise which will be completed within another year. He was like- 
wise the promoter of the Duluth Office Men's Association, of which he 
was elected president, an organization consisting of about 200 profes- 
sional and office men. He has belonged to the Masons since 1906 and 
has attained the Scottish Rite degree, and belongs to the Lions Club as 
a member of the Board of Directors. His religious affiliation is with 
the Episcopal Church and his political tendencies make him independent 
in his support of candidates and principles. 

Mr. Pattinson was married April 14, 1911, to Miss Gladys Rees, of 
Pittsburgh, whose parents were natives of Wales, her father being a 
veteran of the Civil war. Prior to her marriage she had been a stenog- 
rapher in the employ of the United States Steel Corporation. 

F. D. Orr for upwards of forty years has been doing business in the 
mining districts and ranges of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, pri- 
marily in the sale of explosives used in mining operations. For many 
years past he has been manager of the Duluth headquarters of the DuPont 
industries. 

Mr. Orr was born in Oneida County, New York, January 26, 1857. 
His grandfather came to this country from Ireland. The father, Charles 
Orr, was also born in New York, was a mechanic by trade, and died 
in 1874. He was the father of three sons and two daughters, and all 
but one of the sons are still living. 

Second in this family, F. D. Orr was reared and educated in the 
east, and was about seventeen years of age when his father died. He 
then went out to live with an uncle on a farm at Northfield, Minnesota, 
attended school for a time, and for five years worked in a cheese fac- 
tory. In 1881 Mr. Orr went to Cleveland, Ohio, and after a brief serv- 
ice as clerk in a store was sent to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 
selling townsites for an iron company. 

He left the townsite business to become salesman for the Atlantic 
Dynamite Company, selling explosives in the Gogebic Iron Range. That 
was the beginning of the business which he has followed ever since. 
Many years ago he entered the service of the DuPont Company. While 
the name DuPont is most familiarly associated with powder and other 
explosives, yet is, as a matter of fact, synonymous with a diversified 
industry comprehending a tremendous range of products, including 
explosives, chemicals, coated textiles and other materials and commodi- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 957 

ties. Since 1914 Mr. Qrr has been manager of the Duluth office of the 
DuPont Company in the Hartley Building. Through this office more 
explosives are sold than in any other office of the DuPont Company, 
and thus Mr. Orr has a special post of honor and consideration with 
this great American industry. As an auxiliary of the Duluth service 
there is maintained a special fleet of motor trucks for the expeditious 
and prompt handling of explosives required on the iron ranges. 

Mr. Orr has been a resident of Duluth for many years and takes 
much pride in the city and is closely identified with civic organizations, 
including the Duluth Commercial Club, the Northland Country Club, 
the Kitchi Gammi Club and the Duluth Boat Club. 

Henry John Merdink is a capable lawyer at Ely, where he has 
been in active practice since 1915. Thoroughly equipped and trained 
for the legal profession, he is a man of leadership as well in community 
affairs, and his devotion to the common welfare has been abundantly 
proved since he began his professional career in the Range district. 

Mr. Merdink is a native of Minnesota, born at Stephen, June 11, 
1891, son of John Henry and Jane (Sangster) Merdink, the former a 
native of New York state, of Holland Dutch ancestry, and the latter 
born in Scotland. Mr. Merdink's grandfather moved out to Wisconsin 
before there was a single line of railway west of Chicago, and home- 
steaded land within the limits of the present city of Milwaukee. He 
was a farmer, and not finding the land fertile enough he abandoned that 
locality and moved to what is now Baldwin in St. Croix County. Sub- 
sequently Grandfather Merdink enlisted as a Union soldier, and he died 
from wounds received at Gettysburg. 

John Henry Merdink grew up on a farm, spent many years as a 
practical farmer, and after moving to Stephen, Minnesota, established 
a feed and flour mill. He is still living there at the age of seventy, and 
his wife is sixty-four. He is a Republican, has been a delegate to vari- 
ous conventions of his party, has served as president of the village and 
a member of the Council and on the School Board. John Henry Merdink 
and wife have three children: Mary J., wife of David L. Eastburn, of 
Circle, Montana; George W., a farmer at Stephen, Minnesota; and 
Henry John. 

Henry John Merdink graduated from the Stephen High School in 
1908. Soon afterward he entered the University of Minnesota, pursuing 
the literary and law courses, and was graduated in 1913. The same year 
he removed to the Range to practice law and for a time was in partner- 
ship with Judge R. J. Montague at Virginia. There he was assistant 
city attorney and in April, 1915, moved to Ely, where in addition to 
a general practice he was city attorney from 1916 to 1920 and also from 
1916 has been secretary of the Commercial Club and has had much to 
do in making that an effective instrument to promote the commercial and 
civic welfare of Ely. 

While in school Mr. Merdink was an all-around athlete, and was a 
member of the hockey, baseball, football and basketball teams, and at 
the university was a member of the track and cross-country teams and 
held the state record in the mile run. He was one of the very enthu- 
siastic men of St. Louis County in promoting the objects of the Gov- 
ernment during the World war. A defect of the eyes prevented his early 
enlistment. Subsequently he had the defect cured. In the meantime he 
was instrumental in the organization and served as color sergeant of 
the Home Guards and as advisor and United States appeal agent for 
the local Draft Board. In 1918 he waived deferred classification and 



958 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

took the soldiers' oath of allegiance and was ordered and was on the 
way to Camp Taylor, Kentucky, to enter the Officers Training Camp 
when the armistice was signed. Mr. Murdink is a Republican, a thirty- 
second degree Mason and Shriner, and a Knight of Pythias. In June, 
1916, he married Bertha M. Dykeman, daughter of E. L. Dykeman, of 
Stephen, Minnesota. 

Carl Pearson is the active head of Olof Pearson & Son, contractors 
and builders at 209-211 Lake avenue, North, in Duluth. This is a 
business that represents a high-class specialty in building construction, 
comprising an organization of expert and skilled carpenters and cabinet 
makers, and prepared to give prompt and efficient service in the best 
classes of repairing and remodeling as well as all general carpenter work. 

The founder of the business was the late Olof Pearson, who was born 
in Sweden and came to America alone in 1884. After several years in 
the eastern states he went out to North Dakota in 1888, and had the 
management of a large farm for a time. In 1890 he engaged in the 
building and contracting business under his own name, working alone 
three years, then one year with a partner, again alone for himself at 
19 Second avenue, West, for about five years, and then moved to 207 
West First street. Olof Pearson died in 1916. He married Fredericka 
Bowman, and had eight children, five of whom are still living. 

Carl Pearson was born at Duluth, March 15, 1894, had a public 
school education and as a boy worked for his father and acquired pro- 
ficiency in all branches of carpentry and building. At the age of eighteen 
he went with another firm for a year and a half, then moved away from 
Duluth for two years, and on returning to the city joined his father 
in the firm of Olof Pearson & Son, and that organization and title he 
still maintains. The business employs about twenty expert men and has 
proved itself thoroughly competent in the handling of contracts. 

Mr. Pearson is a Republican voter. On August 5, 1916, he mar- 
ried Miss Lillian E. Olsen. Her father, John Olsen, came to America 
in 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have one daughter, Marjorie W., and also 
one son, Robert H. 

William C. Toben, sales manager of the Certain-teed Products Corp- 
oration at Duluth, has been identified with this concern since 1915, and 
has contributed materially to the success of a concern which now manu- 
factures about one-third of the roofing and building paper used in the 
United States. Mr. Toben was born at 209 Third avenue, East, Duluth, 
September 15, 1889, a son of Bernard and Emma (Sugg) Toben, natives 
respectively of Illinois and Wisconsin. Bernard Toben has been a resi- 
dent of Duluth for about thirty-three years, during the major portion 
of which time he has been a retail dealer in meats. He still survives at 
the age of fifty-nine years, his wife being fifty-six years of age. They 
had seven children, William C. being the second in order of birth. 

William C. Toben received good educational advantages in his youth, 
and is a graduate of the Duluth High School, the University of Califor- 
nia and the Houghton School of Mines. At the age of twenty years he 
embarked in civil engineering, which he followed as a profession for 
three years, the next two years being spent in association with his father. 
During the trouble on the Mexican border he served one year, and 
on his return joined the Certain-teed Products Corporation. He was 
with this concern until he enlisted in the United States Army, infantry 
branch, in April, 1918, and was assigned for instructive work at Camp 
Lewis. After eleven months in the service he received his honorable dis- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 959 

charge and' returned to the Certain-teed Products Corporation, and was 
appointed sales manager January 14, 1920, a position which he has since 
filled with excellent ability. 

The Certain-teed Products Corporation was organized by George 
M. Brown of Saint Louis in the year 1904, under the name of General 
Roofing Manufacturing Company, a name under which it continued for 
about twelve years, during which time it had grown to be the leading 
manufacturer in roofing and building papers in the United States. The 
organization consisted at that time of thirty-six sales offices and forty- 
two warehouses. During this time the company confined itself to the 
manufacture of the highest grade of prepared roofing, the principal parts 
of the manufacture of which were the making of a rag felt and the 
proper saturation and coating thereof with a correct blend of asphalt. 
In 1916 the company was reorganized as the Certain-teed Products Corp- 
oration, and to its line of roofing and building papers added a complete 
line of paints and varnishes. The number of sales offices have been in- 
creased from thirty-six to thirty-nine, and forty-six warehouses are now 
being operated. These warehouses and sales offices are located all over 
the United States. During the period of its operation the company has 
grown from the very smallest in its line to a point where at the present 
it is manufacturing about one-third of the roofing and building paper 
sold in the United States. The company established a sales office and 
warehouse at Duluth in May, 1915. This office has always been located 
in the Sellwood Building, and the present location of the warehouse is 
at 122 East Michigan street. The Duluth office was opened, under the 
direction of L. R. Walker of Saint Louis, by J. R. Pflueger. 

Mr. Toben joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity during his college 
days, and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. His religious faith 
is that of the Catholic Church. On February 14, 1920, he was married 
at Minneapolis to Miss Gladys Millen, a daughter of John G. Millen. 

Herbert S. King. During the past thirty years several members 
of the King family have had an important share of the technical work 
and official administration of the mining districts of northern Minnesota. 
One of them, Herbert S. King, had a long and intensive training in 
mining affairs here and is now superintendent of the Chandler Mining 
Company of Ely. 

He was born at Negaunee, Michigan, September 2, 1887, son of 
Henry and Rachel (Gordon) King. His parents were Canadians from 
the Province of Quebec, lived in Michigan for a number of years, and 
in 1892 removed to the Mesaba Range, locating at Virginia. Henry King 
has been connected with steam shovel operations in the mining district 
and has been employed by nearly all the iron companies here. He is 
now sixty-four and his wife fifty-four. Both are devout Presbyterians 
and he was an official member of the church for a number of years. They 
had a family of three sons and two daughters. Alexander, the oldest, is 
a highly trained technical man in mining affairs, being a graduate of 
the Minnesota State University and the Colorado School of Mines, and 
is now superintendent of the Holman Mine of the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company. Lillis King is the wife of Ray Fitzgibbons, of Monroe, Wis- 
consin. Myrtle R. is a kindergarten teacher at Duluth and formerly 
taught at Virginia. Ellard G. was a member of the Hospital Corps in 
France, and while on the battle front was gassed, and the Government 
is, % now enabling him to complete his education in the University of Cali- 
fornia at Berkeley. 



960 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Herbert S. King was about five years old when the family moved 
to Virginia, and he graduated from the schools of that city at the age 
of eighteen. He then became a clerical worker in the office of the New 
York State Steel Company at Virginia, remaining there two years, and 
for four years did clerical work at the Commodore Mine at Virginia. 
Since 1911 he has been in the offices of the Chandler Mining Company, 
has made a thorough study of the business, and his quick comprehension 
of responsibilities has brought him various promotions. For several 
years he has been a member of the Board of Directors and since Janu- 
ary, 1921, has been superintendent of the company. 

Mr. King interests himself in various matters affecting the welfare 
and progress of his community. He is one of the trustees of the Pres- 
byterian Church, is a Republican and is a master of Ely Lodge of 
Masons. 

November 18, 1908, he married Miss Ruth Trimble, daughter of 
B. M. Trimble. Mrs. King was born at Virginia and she and Mr. King 
attended high school together. For two years she has been a member 
of the Ely School Board. They have four children : Kathleen, David, 
Audrey and Nancy. 

Itasca Bazaar Company. The largest mercantile business on the 
Mesaba Range, handling a general stock of dry^ goods, clothing, women's 
ready to wear garments, millinery and house furnishings, is the Itasca 
Bazaar Company, a strikingly successful mercantile enterprise, due to the 
extraordinary energy and ability of a woman, Mrs. D. M. Power, who 
has created and built up the store and is still its vital executive head. 

A small dry goods and house furnishing establishment was organ- 
ized at Hibbing under the name of The Bazaar in 1897 by Mrs. Dottie 
M. Power. By 1911 she had acquired a controlling interest in the Itasca 
Mercantile Company, and in 1913 became its sole owner. In the mean- 
time, in 1911, the two stores had been combined as the Itasca Bazaar 
Company, a name that has been continued. In 1920, owing to the 
moving of old Hibbing, a new building was erected as an appropriate 
home for his mercantile establishment at Third avenue and Howard 
street. It is a two and a half story brick building, 100x125 feet. 

Mrs. Power, who deserves all the credit for this interesting example 
of commercial enterprise, was born in New York City and was a child 
when she went west to Sands and later to Gladstone, Michigan, with her 
parents, Thomas and Mary (Flynn) O'Connell. She graduated from 
St. Joseph's Seminary at Marquette, and in 1896 was married to 
W. J. Power of Hibbing. 

Walter J. Power was born at Copper Harbor, Michigan, March 29, 
1879, and is son of a distinguished lawyer and brother of Victor Power 
of Hibbing, noted elsewhere in this publication. Walter J. Power was 
educated in the public schools of Escanaba and Calumet, read law under 
his father, and was admitted to the bar and has been in practice at Hib- 
bing for over twenty years. He was associated with P. H. Nelson in 
organizing the Merchants and Miners State Bank of Hibbing, and for 
a year or so served as president of that institution. 

Emil J. Zauft. To few men do various Minnesota counties owe 
more for a practical demonstration of substantial and effective building 
than to Emil J. Zauft. Skill, energy, resource and continual advancement 
are levers in the constructive machinery of this master builder. He has 
the natural pride of the true artisan, especially of one who uses his worth 
to create, and who must needs be surrounded by his work in the future 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 961 

and hear on all sides the estimate placed thereupon by the community. 

Mr. Zauft was born at Waukesha, Wisconsin, was reared on a farm 
at Baraboo, that state, and when sixteen years of age began an appren- 
ticeship to the carpenter's trade, at the same time gaining a high school 
education. When twenty-one years of age, in 1889, he came to West 
Duluth and for three years worked as a journeyman carpenter. After 
that he began jobbing in a small way and since then has steadily advanced 
in his vocation, making his work of lasting good to the community. He 
operates extensively in the building of schoolhouses and county court 
houses in the state of Minnesota, as well as in Wisconsin, and among 
the buildings to his credit are the Young Men's Christian Association 
structures at Duluth and West Duluth. His offices are maintained at 
No. 5613 Grand avenue. 

During the early days of the village of West Duluth he was a mem- 
ber of the Volunteer Fire Department and had command of the local 
hook-and-ladder company. He served five years as a member of Com- 
pany G, Minnesota National Guard, and held the rank of sergeant when 
the company was disbanded. Mr. Zauft was one of the organizers of 
the West Duluth Commercial Club, of which he was elected president 
in 1916, is a member of the Duluth Commercial Club, the Duluth Boat 
Club and the Duluth Rotary Club, and is president of the Duluth Build- 
ers' Exchange. In 1914 he was president of the Minnesota Builders' 
Exchange. He assisted in the organization of the Western Curling 
Club and each year has appeared with a prize-wining rink at the North- 
western Bonspiel. He has served as chancellor commander of Duluth 
Lodge No. 123, Knights of Pythias, and twice has held the office of 
noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

In 1901 Mr. Zauft was united in marriage with Miss Florence Felt, 
whose father was one of the pioneer settlers of Superior, Wisconsin. 

George H. Lounsberry. On the basis of proved achievement and 
accomplishment, the name of George H. Lounsberry is synonymous with 
building construction in and around Duluth. As a general contractor 
he has been in business many years, and probably no other contractor 
can exhibit a better proportioned list and group of important building 
work than Mr. Lounsberry. 

He was born at Fairmont, Minnesota, April 29, 1869. a son of 
Colonel C. A. and Victoria (Hoskins) Lounsberry. His father was a 
native of the state of New York and his mother of Michigan. Colonel 
Lounsberry has long been a prominent man in the northwestern country. 
He was postmaster and at one time publisher of the Tribune at Bis- 
marck, North Dakota, and about 1885 helped established the News 
Tribune of Duluth. For many years past his home has been in the state 
of Washington, where he does special land agent work and is now sev- 
enty-six years of age. Of his five children four are living. 

The second oldest of the family, George H. Lounsberry acquired his 
early education in a seminary at Bismarck, North Dakota, but has been 
practically earning his own living since he was ten years of age. As a 
boy he carried messages and papers, and at the age of seventeen began 
an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. He worked as a journeyman 
seven years, and at Duluth entered building construction work with 
George Smith, under the firm name of Lounsberry & Smith. This part- 
nership continued four years and since then Mr. Lounsberry has been 
in business alone as a general contractor. Since August, 1916, his 
business offices and headquarters have been in his own building at 322 



962 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

East Superior street. He is a master of details of every phase of the 
building industry. He has assembled a large force of competent and 
skilled workers, and has a large amount of capital invested in equipment 
of every kind for the handling of some of the very largest contracts 
involved in building construction. He has erected some of the largest 
building blocks in Duluth, and a number of years ago carried out con- 
tracts involving upwards of a million dollars in the construction of houses 
of the "Model Town" of the United States Steel Corporation, has built 
bridges and many public buildings, including U. S. Grant and Park Point 
school houses, the telephone building at Duluth, and many others. Ten 
years ago Mr. Lounsberry helped organize the Yerna Brick Company, 
and is vice-president of that industry. 

Fraternally, he is affiliated with the various branches of Masonry, 
including everything up to the thirty-third degree of the Scottish Rite. 
He is a member of the Commercial Qub and the Builders Exchange 
and is a Republican in political affiliations. 

At Duluth July 15, 1896, he married Miss Margaret Harrington, 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Harrington, who came from Ireland. 
Four children have been born to their marriage : Paige Lounsberry, born 
in 1898; Harlow, born in 1903; Sylvia, born in 1906; and Jessica, born 
in 1910. The younger children are still attending school at Duluth, while 
Paige, the oldest, after completing the work of the Duluth schools, fin- 
ished his education in Culver Military Academy in Indiana and is now 
associated with his father. 

D. H. Lonergan is a highly qualified expert in all the complications 
of mortgage loans, rentals, real estate and insurance, and with knowledge 
he combines an exceptional energy that has brought a tremendous volume 
of business and effective enterprise to his organization. 

Mr. Lonergan was born at South Bend, Indiana, July 29, 1886, and 
began his business career practically as a wage earner. His parents 
were James A. and Phoebe (Smith) Lonergan. His father for the 
greater part of his life has been a landscape gardener for Notre Dame 
University at South Bend, and is still living at the age of seventy-six. 
Of his four children three are living, D. H. being the eldest. 

He attended the parochial schools of South Bend, and at the age 
of fourteen was earning his living and acquiring business training as 
clerk in a dry goods store. Later he learned the trade of molder, which 
he followed for seven years. Leaving his trade, he has engaged in the 
ral estate and loan business, and had an experience in that line for seven 
years before coming to Duluth. His specialty is real estate exchange, 
and from a small beginning he has developed a volume of business 
amounting to a million dollars annually. Some of the largest business 
properties and most expensive residences have been handled by him 
and he has shown a remarkable capacity to bring buyer and seller 
together. While practically all his business is now concentrated at 
Duluth, he also operated at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for several years. 
Mr. Lonergan is married and has one daughter. Helen Phoebe. 

William James Mudge. Few men cultivate more intensively the 
opportunities of life than William James Mudge has done. Possessed 
of an eager mind, an industrious disposition, an aspiring ambition, he 
has worked faithfully where circumstances have placed him and has 
prepared himself for other duties beyond and has had a most interesting 
range of experience and achievement. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 963 

Mr. Mudge, who is now superintendent in charge of the South 
Chandler Mine in Ely, was born at Beeralstone, Devonshire, England, 
July 25, 1862, son of William and Mary (Channon) Mudge. His mother 
was also a native of Devonshire, while his father came from County 
Kent and was an under captain in the Russell United Mines of Devon. 
During his early manhood he also performed a mission as a special 
agent of the British Government in the United States. 

William James Mudge acquired his preliminary education at Gun- 
nis Lake and took his grammar school work at Tavistock in Devon. 
When he was twelve he joined the British Navy. His grammar school 
education was finished while working on an eight-hour shift in the 
mines. His mining experience covered several of the English mining 
districts and when he first came to the United States he worked in 
the mines at Mount Hope, New Jersey, and also in the copper mines at 
Calumet, Michigan, and the silver mines at Park City, Utah. For a 
time he was also engaged in construction work with the Flagler Railroad 
on the coast of Florida. 

Having in the meantime seen much of the world, Mr. Mudge returned 
to England and for a year or so applied himself to the study of lan- 
guages, science and theology, and fitted himself for the ministry of the 
Bible Christian Church, becoming an evangelist. During a period of 
three years as a means of self support he also worked in the Russell 
United Mines and in other mines. 

On his second trip to the United States Mr. Mudge located at Negau- 
nee, Michigan, and for sixteen years was identified with that mining 
district, holding among other positions that of head shift boss. During 
the past twenty years his work as a miner has been in northern Minne- 
sota. As a mine captain he opened the Hawkins Mine at Nashwauk 
in 1901. Under his superintendency the LaRue Mine was opened in 
1903 and the Adriatic Mine at Mesaba in 1906. Since 1919 his duties 
have been as superintendent of the South Chandler Mine at Ely. 

In Devonshire Mr. Mudge married Mary Prout Hawkins Chapman. 
She died while they were living at Nashwauk. Of their five children 
four are living: Mrs. P. H. Hubbard, of Ely, whose husband is a con- 
ductor on the Iron Range Railroad ; William, general foreman at Bab- 
bitt; Stanley Howard, now at Eveleth, who enlisted early in the war 
with Germany, was in service for twenty-two months in the Philippines, 
and received his discharge as an invalid; Norman E., who was in the 
Students Army Training Corps at the State University, and is in the 
insurance business; and Eugene, who died at Nashwauk in childhood. 
In 1908 Mr. Mudge married Miss Ada Chapman, a sister of his first 
wife. 

Mr. Mudge is a Christian who makes his religion part of his daily 
life. He is a devout Methodist, a teacher of the Bible Class and Sunday 
School and of a men's class each Sunday afternoon. For some time 
he has made it a practice to read the Bible through every year. He is 
a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite and York Rite Mason and Odd 
Fellow. 

Mr. Mudge has performed much public service since coming to 
Minnesota. While at Nashwauk he was clerk of the School Board 
and clerk of the Township Board, served as president of the Town 
Board at Mesaba for seven years, was president of the School Board 
of District No. 13 for six years, for four years was president of the 
County School Board, and for one year was president of the State Board 
of Education. Recently he was appointed special judge at Ely. 

Vol. Ill— 3 



964 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

George E. Lehman. There are some people who express surprise 
at the very remarkable development which has taken place in the Mesaba 
Range, resulting in the creation of one of the finest little cities in the 
world at Hibbing, and yet when a roster is compiled of the men who 
are living in this part of St. Louis County the keen observer realizes 
that this expansion is but the logical outcome of such an aggregation of 
citizens, to whom progress comes as a matter of everyday endeavor. One 
of these energetic and dependable men who has accomplished much dur- 
ing the eighteen years he has been a resident of St. Louis County is 
George E. Lehman, district road engineer for the Seventh Commission 
District of the County. • 

Born at Negaunee, Michigan, June 14, 1878. he is a native of the 
north country. His parents were William and Elizabeth (Heppe) Leh- 
man, both of German nativity, but residents of the United States from 
childhood. William Lehman is still living, although eighty-six years old, 
and resides at Negaunee, but his wife is deceased. His chief work in 
life was accomplished as a carpenter. During the war between the north 
and the south he served in the Union army from Missouri. 

George E. Lehman was reared in his native city, and after attending 
its common and high schools became a student at the Northern State 
Normal School at Marquette, Michigan. For six years subsequent to 
the completion of his studies, he was a school teacher in Michigan, but 
afterward became a civil and mining engineer, and with the idea of 
securing employment in his professional capacity he came to Hibbing, 
and for eighteen months was timekeeper for the Oliver Mining Com- 
pany, during which time he secured an acquaintance which justified his 
establishing himself in a general practice as a civil and mining engineer, 
and continuing in it until 1916, when he received his present appointment 
from the Board of Commissioners of Saint Louis County. His duty is 
to have charge of the road work and bridge work of his district, and 
through him much has been accomplished for this region. He is a thor- 
oughly experienced man and capable of discharging the onerous respon- 
sibilities of his office in a highly efficient manner and at the least cost 
to the taxpayers. 

Mr. Lehman is independent in his political affiliations. He belongs 
to the Episcopal Church. The Masonic fraternity holds his membership 
and he also belongs to the Commercial Club of Hibbing, the State Engi- 
neers and Surveyors Society and the Northern Minnesota Engineers Club. 

In 1911 Mr. Lehman was united in marriage with Miss Mary Isabelle 
Neely, of Negaunee, Michigan, and they have three children, namely: 
Isabelle, Ray and Janet. Possessed of strong personality and extraordi- 
nary abilities, he has won the confidence of all of his associates and has 
become the moving spirit of his district in securing and completing pub- 
lic improvements. » 

C. L. Burmax. One of the oldest established sheet metal concerns of 
Duluth is that of C. L. Burman, the business title at present being Bur- 
man & McGill, at 1625 West Superior street. Mr. Burman has been a 
resident of Minnesota for upwards of thirty years and has spent most 
of his active life as a sheet metal worker. 

He was born in Sweden October 1, 1869, and was reared and edu- 
cated in his native country. In 1891, at the age of twenty-two, he came 
to the United States, joining his grandfather in Minnesota. He soon 
located at St. Paul, and was employed there in the sheet metal trade for 
five years. For a short time after that he was located in Montana, and 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 965 

at three different times, during 1892, 1894 and 1898, was in the service 
of George Ralph, in a party of state engineers engaged in surveying 
work in northern Minnesota. On moving to Duluth Mr. Burman en- 
tered the sheet metal business and since 1908 has been contracting indi- 
vidually. On March 25, 1919, he took in Mr. McGill as a partner, under 
the firm name of Burman & McGill. Their establishment is at 1625 West 
Superior street, and they have equipment for handling all classes of sheet 
metal work and the business of heating and ventilating engineers. 

Mr. Burman is independent in politics and is affiliated with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. In December, 1902, he married Miss 
Lemberg. They have three children : . Ethel, Mildred and Carl, all of 
whom are students in the public schools of Duluth. 

Ralph Fiscketti is a popular business man of Duluth and has been 
well known in the city for the past twenty years. 

He was born in Italy October 25, 1875. and came to America in 
1900, locating among relatives and friends at Duluth. His people had 
preceded him to this country by several years. Mr. Fiscketti learned the 
cabinet maker's trade in the old country and after coming to Duluth 
worked in a sash and frame factory three years, was with the Baxter 
Sash and Door factory and also was a journeyman carpenter. He was 
a very skillful man at his trade and competent for all branches of work. 
Eventually he got into business for himself as proprietor of a lunch 
stand at 529^ Superior street, and has since given all his time to the 
business of feeding the public. 

In 1898 he married Miss Agnes Belfatto. They have three children: 
Henry G., born in 1910; Lucy, born in 1912, and Gelde. 

B. W. Hintz is active head of the Hintz-Cameron Company, whole- 
sale and retail dealers in flour, feed, hay, millstuff, field and garden 
seeds. Mr. Hintz has been in this business at Duluth for over ten 
years and prior to that had a widely varied commercial experience both 
here and in other cities of the country. 

He was born at Mansfield in Freeborn County, Minnesota, January 
17, 1883, son of August and Louise (Jost) Hintz. His father, a native 
of Germany, came to America alone about 1850 and spent a long and 
active career as a farmer in Minnesota at Mansfield. He died in 1894. 
Of his large family of thirteen children nine are still living, B. W. being 
the youngest. 

B. W. Hintz attended school at Mansfield, also acquired a portion 
of his education in Duluth, and at the age of nineteen left the farm to 
go to work for Morris & Company, meat packers. He was with that 
concern three years, and for six months was an employe in the Beaver 
Falls, Pennsylvania, branch house of Armour & Company. Then return- 
ing to Minnesota he was connected with the Duluth Cigar Company 
three years, and on March 21, 1909, engaged in the feed business at 
114 East Michigan street. He has been in that one locality and in 
the same business ever since, but the volume of his trade and busi- 
ness has had a tremendous expansion. The Hintz-Cameron Company 
handle the products of the Albert Dickinson Company in Duluth, and 
distribute the products of various other mills and manufacturers. 

Mr. Hintz is a member of the Commercial Club, the Elks Club, and 
was reared a Lutheran. August 17, 1906, at Minneapolis, he married 
Miss Marguerite Mostue, daughter of Louise Mostue, of Duluth. They 
have one daughter, Elinor, born April 25, 1916. 



966 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Benjamin M. Lippman. There are few men who have been more 
closely associated and for a longer time with the commercial life of 
the Mesaba Range than Benjamin M. Lippman, now a resident of 
Hibbing. > 

Mr. Lippman is an American citizen of varied experience, and though 
of foreign birth has been assimilated in every way with the life and 
ideals of this nation. He was born in southern Russia June 5, 1876, a 
son of M. E. and Zelda (Yesner) Lippman. His parents spent most of 
their lives in Russia and his father grew up a farmer, later became an 
importer and lived on the border line between his own country and Ger- 
many, importing goods from Germany and selling in Russia. He had 
been educated for a Rabbi and was a man of superior intelligence and 
influence. He made several visits to the United States, and his death 
occurred in Virginia, Minnesota, in 1916,- and his widow is still living in 
that Minnesota town. 

Benjamin M. Lippman is one of eight children, four of whom are 
still living. His home was in Russia to the age of twenty. During that 
time he devoted himself to his studies under the supervision of his tal- 
ented father and other excellent instructors. As he grew toward man- 
hood he carefully considered the future and his environment in central 
Europe and determined that destiny offered him the greater rewards in 
another land. Accordingly in 1896 he came to the United States. He 
reached here without capital, without a knowledge of language and 
customs, and with such handicaps showed remarkable resourcefulness 
in finding a way to start and at a time when the country was still slowly 
recovering from the results of a panic. At Altoona, Pennsylvania, some 
friends credited him with seventeen dollars and a half in trade, and he laid 
in a stock of notions and started peddling. That was the real beginning of 
his American career. In this way he went on until 1899. and in that year 
came to the Mesaba Range in northern Minnesota. He was at Eveleth, but 
about three months later established a store at McKinley, and in the mean- 
time had assisted his brother Samuel to come to northern Minnesota, and 
they were partners in the venture at McKinley. They soon opened another 
store at Eveleth, Samuel being in charge of the McKinley stock, while 
Benjamin went to Eveleth. Later Benjamin Lippman operated a store 
at Cass Lake, Minnesota, for two and a half years. He and his brother 
Samuel then established a business at Buhl, and for a time were propri- 
etors of three stores, at McKinley, Buhl and Mount Iron. In the mean- 
time they had induced another brother, Henry, to cross the ocean, and 
it was Henry who was manager of the business at Mount Iron. This 
enterprise rapidly grew and in 1905 Benjamin Lippman moved there 
to give it his personal supervision. It was on the 14th of February of 
that year, and after he had been in America for nine years, that Mr. Lipp- 
man married Annie J. Margulis. 

Early in 1906 the business of the brothers was divided and Benjamin 
moved to Virginia, where he established a store and conducted it three 
and a half years, until selling out. In 1909 he moved to Hibbing and 
with Charles Hallock founded the Hibbing Department Store on Pine 
street. Their partnership was dissolved in 1913, in which year Mr. Lipp- 
man established his present department store. He is just completing a 
fine brick building in the new town of South Hibbing. to which he will 
remove when completed. This building is of brick 100 feet frontage, 
125 feet deep and three stories in height, with 37,500 square feet of 
floor space. It is strictly modern in every way and when completed 
will be the finest department store in northeastern Minnesota. While 
he was in Virginia Mr. Lippman established branch stores at Nashwauk 



[rr?.r> 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 967 

and Hibbing, subsequently selling both these enterprises, as well as 
another store which he founded at Hibbing. He is now president of 
the Minnesota Dry Goods Company of Virginia, and has one of the 
largest and best-stocked department stores at Hibbing on the Mesaba 
Range. 

Mr. Lippman has for years regarded himself as an American and 
all his actions are the best proof of his thorough Americanism. He 
naturalized as a citizen as quickly as possible, and no native son is more 
ready to support matters involving patriotism and public spirit. During 
the World war he enrolled himself as a member of the local Home 
Guards, and was honorably discharged when the war was over. On 
one occasion during the war he put on a sale conducted by the public as 
clerks, giving ten per cent of all the proceeds to the Red Cross. While 
he has never aspired to office he was elected municipal judge while at 
Buhl. Mr. and Mrs. Lippman have two children, Monroe I. and 
Blessing. 

L. C. Coffin. The record of Mr. Coffin is that of a man who by 
his own unaided efforts has worked his way from a modest beginning 
to a position of affluence and. influence in the business world. His life 
has been of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and 
honorable methods which he has followed have won him the unbounded 
confidence of his fellow citizens. L. C. Coffin is a Yankee by nativity, 
having been born at Collis, Vermont, on the 27th of November, 1876, 
and is the sixth in order of birth of the eight children born to Fessenden 
and Sophronia (Lord) Coffin. Both of his parents were natives of 
Vermont and both are now deceased, the father dying in 1887. He 
was a farmer by vocation and stood high in the esteem of his fellow 
citizens. 

L. C. Coffin attended the public schools and then was a student in 
the Vermont Methodist Seminary at Montpelier, Vermont. At the age 
of seven years he had left home and worked on a farm until ten years 
old, when he went to Barre, Vermont, and thereafter until twenty-four 
years old was identified with the granite industry. In 1904 Mr. Coffin 
came to Duluth, Minnesota, and engaged in the music business. Three 
years later he founded the Boston Music House, which proved to be 
a most successful enterprise and in 1912 the company was incorporated, 
with the following stockholders and officers : L. C. Coffin, president and 
treasurer; Al Bluett, vice president, and Gusta Rustafson, secretary. 
They carry on a general music merchandising business, carrying a 
full line of musical instruments, as well as a large stock of music of 
every character. By their energetic efforts, sound business judgment and 
courteous treatment of their customers this company has grown from a 
modest beginning to one of the largest music houses in the northwest, 
certainly the largest of its kind at the Head of the Lakes. They also 
handle pianos and talking machines and phonographs, and fifteen sales 
people are constantly engaged, the sales rooms and stock rooms occupy- 
ing the four floors of their building at No. 1820 Lake avenue, North. 

On January 1, 1914, Mr. Coffin was married to Mildred Francis, the 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Francis, of Lake Linden, Michigan, 
and they have one child, Lional, born September 14, 1919. Mr. Coffin 
also has a daughter, Velma, by a former marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Coffin 
are members of the Pilgrim Congregational Church, to which they give 
generous support. Mr. Coffin is a member of the Commercial Club, 
the Rotary Club, the Retail Merchants Association, and fraternally is 
a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is essen- 



968 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

tially a man of affairs, of sound judgment, keen discernment, far-seeing 
in what he undertakes, and his success in life has been the legitimate 
fruitage of consecutive effort, directed and controlled by good judgment 
and correct principles. Because of his success and excellent qualities 
of character he enjoys a high standing throughout the community. 

William C. Barrett, who has been a resident of Hibbing since the 
fall of 1893, is now engaged in an undertaking business and has won 
the gratitude of the people of this community for the dignified and 
sympathetic service he renders in the time of greatest bereavement. 
Mr. Barrett was born at Willsborough Point, Essex County, New York, 
on Lake Champlain, August 15, 1857. His father, Peter Barrett, of 
Canadian nativity, came to the United States when a child, and lived 
in New York the remainder of his life, dying at Sandy Hill, New York. 
He married Mary Gordon. 

Growing up in his native state, William C. Barrett was given the 
advantage of careful training by his watchful parents, and apprenticed 
to learn the stone-cutting trade when old enough to do so under his 
father, who was foreman in the Lake Champlain Blue Stone Quarry 
for years. While he learned his trade, Mr. Barrett's opportunities for 
acquiring an education were meagre. When he reached his majority he 
came west and located at Norway, Michigan, and for some years was 
on the Menominee Range, leaving it for the Gogebic Range, and from 
there he went to Ely on the Vermillion Range of northern Minnesota. 
At the latter place he was employed in. drilling for a couple of years. 
His next venture was the operation of the Oliver House in partnership 
with another man, and he subsequently lived for a short time at Mount 
Iron, coming from the latter place to Hibbing in the fall of 1893. 

When Mr. Barrett arrived at Hibbing the village was but a small 
mining camp. Murphy Brothers kept the post office, and W. H. Day, 
the Gearys, Dennis Haley, Doctor Rood were a few other of the early 
settlers whom Mr. Barrett found at Hibbing. Pine street was the only 
business thoroughfare, and the Sellers shaft was the only mining then 
started, for the exploration of the Mahoning was just beginning. There 
were no churches, but plenty of "blind pigs" were operated in sheds and 
tents. Mr. Barrett operated a livery business and represented a brewery 
during the first few months he was at Hibbing, but in 1894 embarked 
in an undertaking business and has pursued it ever since. His first place 
was at the corner of Second and North streets, but later he moved his 
business directly opposite and there he remained until December, 1917, 
when he secured his present premises. 

On June 1, 1893, Mr. Barrett was united in marriage with Mary 
Hurley, and they have had five children born to them, namely: Clinton, 
Russell, Veronia, Wilfred and Donald. Both Clinton and Russell 
answered their country's call during the great war. Clinton was in the 
state militia prior to the entry of this country into the war, as a non- 
commissioned officer of Company M, Third Minnesota National Guard, 
and as such went to the Mexican border in 1916. His command became 
the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, Battery B, during 
the great war, and he went to Deming, New Mexico, for training. He 
was sent overseas in September, 1918, and was five hours' march from 
the front when the armistice was signed. Russell was in the coast artil- 
lery and received his training in California. In July, 1918, he was sent 
overseas and was occupied driving ammunition trucks, and participated 
in the Chateau Thiery offensive. He received his honorable discharge 
after the signing of the armistice. Both young men returned home 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY . 969 

safely after their period of military service and have resumed more 
peaceful occupations. It is doubtful if these young men, or any others 
who wore the uniform, will ever be unmindful of the needs of the coun- 
try they risked their lives to preserve. What is worth fighting for is 
worth working for, is certainly true. 

Mr. Barrett and his family are members of the Roman Catholic 
Church. He is a Republican and has served on the Township Board, 
the School Board and the Village Council. The Elks, Red Men, Knights 
of Columbus and Kiwanis Club all hold his membership. Having passed 
through the pioneer period of Hibbing and participated in its remark- 
able development, Mr. Barrett can appreciate the value of the present 
conditions better than one of the later arrivals in the community. It 
is a source of pride to him that he has borne' his part in bringing about 
such desirable changes, and he has great faith in the future of the 
Mesaba Range and all of this part of the state, for he knows their 
wonderful possibilities. 

William Mitchell is an expert mechanic and has been employed 
in technical occupations in the mining districts of northern Michigan and 
northern Minnesota for the past thirty years. His service in late years 
has been of a public nature, as superintendent of light and water at Ely. 

Mr. Mitchell was born in Cornwall, England,, January 31, 1871, son 
of James and Mary (Tomkin) Mitchell. His father had the training 
and experience of the mining district of Cornwall, and in 1879 brought 
his family to America, first locating at Kingston, Ontario, and in the 
following year moving to Quinnesec, Michigan, and in March, 1884, 
was one of the skilled miners recruited by Captain E. J. Marcom for 
pioneer mining work at Tower, Minnesota. He was employed in the 
Soudan Mine, and died in August, 1886, at the age of forty-four. The 
widowed mother survived until 1910, at the age of sixty-five. Of her 
children John is a diamond drill expert in the Birmingham District of 
Alabama. A daughter, Mrs. H. Grosnick, died in Michigan. Beatrice 
is a trained nurse at Washington, D. C. Mrs. Mary Trudell lives at 
Worcester, Massachusetts. 

WiMiam Mitchell was about thirteen years of age when the family 
moved to the Iron Ranges of Minnesota. He had in the meantime 
attended school at Quinnesec, Michigan. His first regular employment 
and technical training was acquired in the blacksmith shop of the Soudan 
Mines. For about a year he did engine work in the Arcadian copper 
district of Michigan, and in 1900 came to Ely, where he has been one 
of the valued and esteemed citizens for twenty years. For three years 
he was employed as timekeeper at the Pioneer Mine, and in 1903 became 
engineer for the City Light and Water Plant, and since 1913 has effi- 
ciently discharged his responsibilities as superintendent of this plant. 
He is a man who knows his business and is exceedingly loyal to his 
duties. 

Mrs. Isabel Mitchell, his wife, was born at Hammerstburg, Canada, 
and was a teacher in the public schools of Ely until her marriage in 
1910. They have a living daughter, Margaret, and another daughter, 
Frances, died at the age of three. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are active 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Mitchell being superin- 
tendent of the Sunday School and treasurer of the Church Society. 
Politically he is a Republican. 

Leif Jenssen, a highly qualified architect who has practiced his 
profession in Duluth some ten years, is a member of the firm German 



970 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

& Jenssen, whose professional work is exemplified in many of the out- 
standing public structures of Duluth and vicinity. 

Mr. Jenssen was born in Norway February 16, 1879. He was liberally 
educated in his native country and graduated from the Norwegian Poly- 
technic Institute. He came to America alone in 1901 and for a time 
was employed as a draftsman in New York city. In 1903 he removed 
to Chicago and was similarly engaged there until he came to Duluth 
in 1909. During the following four years he was in the offices of the 
architectural firm German & Lignell. When that firm was dissolved in 
1913 Mr. Jenssen became associated with Mr. German under the firm 
name of German & Jenssen, architects, whose offices are in the Exchange 
Building. 

During the past five or six years they have had a large share of the 
architectural work of the city and have drawn plans and supervised con- 
struction for many prominent residences and business and public build- 
ings. Some of the public structures for which they have been architects 
are the Washington Manual Training School, Superior High School, the 
Lincoln School, the Young Men's Christian Association and Young 
Women's Christian Association Buildings and many beautiful residences. 
Mr. Jenssen is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and 
belongs to the Duluth Engineers' Club and the Architects' Association 
of Manitoba. In 1907 he married Miss Larsen, whose people also came 
from Norway. They are the parents of three children. 

F. Labovitz. Considering the small amount of capital he possessed, 
and the difficulties involved in the acquisition of a new language and 
new customs and conditions, F. Labovitz has earned his remarkable suc- 
cess during twenty years of American residence. He is proprietor of 
one of the most successful department stores in Duluth, known as The 
Fair. 

Mr. Labovitz was born in Roumania August 26, 1874. He was 
reared and acquired some commercial experience in his native land, where 
he married. With his wife he came to America in 1900, and soon estab- 
lished a home in Minneapolis, where for seven years he was in the retail 
fruit business. At that time he made much progress in American ways 
and customs and amassed a small capital, with which he came to Duluth 
in 1907 and opened a stock of merchandise at 516^ West Superior 
street. Gradually his business expanded and grew, and after eight years 
he moved to a larger building at 221-223 West First street and then 
opened the department store known as The Fair. This business has 
grown and developed, and its thousands of customers appreciate the 
service rendered as a store of large and well selected stock of economical 
wares. The business is now one involving an aggregate sales of about 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually. Mr. Labovitz has 
always depended upon fair dealing to win his customers, and is head of 
a business that requires a large clerical force. 

He and his wife have three children, Maurice, born in 1900; Roslind, 
born in 1902; and Israel M.. born in 1907. 

Victor L. Power is undoubtedly one of the best known men in 
St. Louis County. He has achieved distinctive success in the law, but 
the associations of his name outside of his home town of Hibbing are 
largely due to the aggressive fight he has made from time to time in 
carrying out and perfecting a public policy for the benefit and improve- 
ment of Hibbing while he has been president of the village. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 971 

Mr. Power was born at Calumet, Michigan,' April 29, 1881, son of 
John and Elizabeth (Corgan) Power. His father, the late John Power, 
who died at Chicago May 20, 1920, was for many years a distinguished 
lawyer of northern Michigan. A son of Matthew and Bridget (Veale) 
Power, the former born in 1802, John Power was born at Waterford, 
Ireland, July 13, 1846, and was reared in a home of culture and had 
good advantages during his youth. About 1861 he ran away from home 
and came to America, and in 1863, by special orders, enlisted as a drum- 
mer boy in the Union army in Company A of the Seventeenth New York 
Infantry. He was with Sherman's Army on the March to the Sea, and 
was twice wounded and served until mustered out June 19, 1865. After 
the war he entered the regular army for frontier duty in the Thirty-sixth 
Michigan Infantry, with headquarters at Fort Wilkins in the copper 
country of northern Michigan. Incidentally he was also made lighthouse 
keeper there, studied law, and was elected and served as county school 
superintendent. He was admitted to the bar in 1872, and began practice 
at Red Jacket, Michigan, where he enjoyed a rising position at the bar 
for twelve years, but in 1881 removed to Escanaba, where he continued 
his professional work until a short time before his death. He was five 
times nominated by the Democratic party for Congress, served as village 
and city attorney of Calumet and Escanaba for fifteen years, was county 
prosecuting attorney, and in 1894 was appointed and for more than 
four years filled the office of Federal district attorney for the western 
district of Michigan. For ten years he was a member and president of 
the Board of Education of Escanaba, also served as county superintend- 
ent of schools of Delta County, and, in the words of a committee of the 
Delta County Bar, was "considered one of the leading lawyers of Michi- 
gan and was recognized as a versatile trial lawyer and as a successful 
and well fortified counsellor. He was prominently concerned in many 
important litigations in the State and Federal Courts. He was a man of 
great natural ability and was a close student of the law. He was a man 
of high ideals and generous impulse. He was ever ready to do his duty 
as a public and private citizen. He was a man with many friends and 
the possessor of a generous and charitable nature. His natural ability 
and his extraordinary diligence as a lawyer were rewarded with such suc- 
cess as was possible to achieve. His eloquence as an advocate before the 
bar soon attracted attention throughout Michigan and Wisconsin." While 
he was performing the duties of lighthouse keeper at Upper Harbor in 
1868 he married Miss Elizabeth Corgan, a native of Montreal, Canada. 
She died in 1914, the mother of eight children. 

Victor L. Power, who was born at Calumet, Michigan, April 29, 1881. 
was two years old when his parents established their home in Escanaba, 
and later he was sent to Chicago to finish his education. He graduated 
from the Irving High School at the age of eighteen and then took special 
work in Latin, science and trigonometry in Lewis Institute. Returning 
to Michigan, he began his serious career as a checker on the ore docks 
at Escanaba, and for a time operated the Clifton Hotel at Marquette. 
Mr. Power visited Hibbing in the home of his brother in December, 1899, 
and that brief acquaintance gave him such a liking for that district and 
its people that he determined to make it his future home. Remaining 
here, he was employed as bookkeeper in a store, then as helper on the 
diamond drill in and around the village of Chisholm, and he also worked 
as a blacksmith's helper for the American Steel & Wire Company in the 
Chisholm Mine, which was the only industry on the site of what is now 
a flourishing town. The son of a successful lawyer, Mr. Power did not 



972 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

definitely determine to follow his father's profession until he had had a 
wide variety of commercial and industrial experience. He studied law 
in Chicago, in the Kent College of Law, and after passing the bar exami- 
nation was admitted on June 4, 1903, and at once returned to Hibbing 
and continued his professional education in the University of Minnesota. 
He took the bar examination in Minnesota in January, 1904, and for the 
past sixteen years has been actively engaged in his profession at Hibbing 
and has achieved a high rank as a lawyer. 

Of Mr. Power's constructive work in behalf of the Hibbing municipal- 
ity only brief reference need be made here. In 1913, during his absence 
from the city, he was elected to head a progressive ticket in a campaign 
based on a platform for bettering local municipal conditions, particularly 
designed to give the village a better lighting system, water power and 
other improvements. He was elected village president at the ensuing 
election, and while the situation and issues have changed in succeeding 
years, he has been elected and re-elected at every succeeding election and 
properly deserves much of the credit for the great program of better- 
ment that has been carried out in recent years. 

Mr. Power is a Republican in politics and has served as delegate to 
a number of county and state conventions. He is a member of the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1910 he married Miss 
Percy Garner, a native of Manistique, Michigan. She was educated in 
the public schools of Manistique and Chicago, and was active in the social 
circles of Hibbing. Her death occurred May 15, 1921. 

H. C. Meining. Specific mention is made of many of the worthy 
citizens of St. Louis County within the pages of this work, citizens who 
have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality and 
whose interests have been identified with its every phase of progress, 
each contributing in his sphere of action to the well-being of the com- 
munity in which he resides and to the advancement of its normal and 
legitimate growth. Among this number is he whose name appears above, 
peculiar interest attaching to his career from the fact that practically 
his entire life has been spent in this immediate locality. 

H. C. Meining was born in the city now honored by his citizenship on 
the 9th day of August, 1878, and is the youngest of the nine children born 
to his parents, seven of whom are still living. The father, Louis W. 
Meining, whose death occurred in 1897, was a native of Germany, who 
came to the United States in the '50s. His first location was in New 
York, but shortly afterward he went to Canada, where he engaged in 
farming for a time. In 1860 he returned to the United States, locating 
in Duluth and engaged in the contracting business. Afterward he went 
to the Calumet copper region in northern Michigan, where for seven 
years he was employed as foreman of mines. At the end of that time 
he returned to Duluth and again engaged in general contracting, which 
business he followed until his retirement, several years later. 

H. C. Meining received his elementary education in the public schools 
of Duluth, after which he entered the University of Michigan, where he 
was graduated with the class of 1896. Immediately afterward he enlisted 
for the Spanish-American war in Company G, Fourteenth Regiment. Min- 
nesota Volunteer Infantry, which was stationed at Chattanooga, where 
they remained until November of that same year, when they returned 
home. Mr. Meining entered the service as a private, but was discharged 
with the rank of a second lieutenant. Upon his return to Duluth he 
became a clerk in the office of the Duluth, Mesaba & Northern Railroad 
Company, but a year later entered the employ of the Great Northern 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 973 

Railroad Company as a stenographer, remaining there about a year. He 
then became secretary to President Hill of the Great Northern Railroad, 
serving in that capacity for five years. He next went to Sleepy Eye, 
Minnesota, and engaged in the flour-mill business, personally superin- 
tending the sales department over the entire United States. In 1906 
Mr. Meining assumed the operation of the United Flour Mill in Minne- 
apolis, remaining there until 1916, when he again returned to Duluth 
and engaged in the brokerage business, under the name of the H. C. Mein- 
ing Company, with offices in the Fidelity Building. He deals in grain, 
flour, feed and hay, and is enjoying a large and constantly increasing 
business. 

Politically Mr. Meining gives his support to the Republican party, 
while his religious faith is that of the Congregational Church. Though 
a busy man, and energetic in the advancement of his own affairs, he still 
finds time to contribute of his time to those things which tend to advance 
the material, civic and moral welfare of the community. Because of these 
things and his excellent personal qualities of character he has won and 
retains the respect and confidence of all who know him. 

M. Bliss Robinson. Well known in the commercial life of Duluth, 
M. Bliss Robinson has been in the brokerage business for a number of 
years and is now vice president of Robinson-Macaulay Company, grain 
and stock brokers, with offices in the Lonsdale Building. 

Mr. Robinson was born May 15, 1879, at Wolf Creek, Wisconsin. His 
father, the late John Robinson, who died at West Superior, Wisconsin, in 
1910, was a pioneer of the Duluth district and widely known all over 
this section. He was born in the state of Maine, moved out to Wiscon- 
sin in early life, and for a time was connected with a party of Govern- 
ment surveyors running lines at Duluth and Superior. In 1889 he engaged 
in the hotel business at Duluth and afterward moved to Superior. By 
his second marriage he was the father of two sons and one daughter, 
M. Bliss being the second in age. 

M. Bliss Robinson acquired a common school education at Duluth and 
Superior, and at the age of sixteen went to work as a messenger boy 
with a telegraph company. Subsequently he learned telegraphy and has 
always been more or less identified with that occupation. After five 
years as a telegraph operator he began handling a brokerage business at 
Duluth, and subsequently organized the Robinson-Macaulay Company. 
This company furnishes a local service quoting all the principal transac- 
tions of the New York Board of Trade every day. 

Mr. Robinson is affiliated with the Elks. On September 1, 1909, he 
married Miss Lillian Klinkert. 

Claude M. Atkinson. Probably in no other field than journalism 
could the original abilities of Claude M. Atkinson discover their proper 
sphere and be afforded the proper medium for expression. Mr. Atkinson 
as a newspaper man and printer has shared in the instability of members 
of his profession, but the fact that for over twenty years he has been 
identified with the village of Hibbing and all that time as publisher and 
editor of the Hibbing Daily News and The Mesaba Ore is sufficient evi- 
dence that he also exemplifies permanent qualifications of citizenship. 

Claude M. Atkinson was born at Appleton, Wisconsin, November 4, 
1862, son of James Fremont and Anna Frances (Waterbury) Atkinson. 
His grandfather, Rev. Edwin Atkinson, was an old-time Methodist circuit 
rider. He was born in England, was ordained a minister of the Metho- 
dist church in that country and after his marriage came to Canada in 



974 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

1836, and when Wisconsin was still a territory and the domain of the 
wild Indian he moved there and for a time lived in Dodge County and 
later in Outagamie County. James Fremont Atkinson also exemplified 
many of the rugged qualities of the family. He was a man of very 
diversified talents. As a youth he learned and took up the trade of cabi- 
net maker. He was in California during the early days of gold discovery. 
Afterward he studied law, operated a store, traded with the Chippewa 
Indians in Wisconsin, dealt in real estate and became owner of con- 
siderable possessions. It may be that he caught the contagion from his 
youthful son, then an apprentice printer, but at any rate in 1877 he 
bought the Escanaba Tribune, changing its name to the Escanaba Iron 
Port, and conducted it for several years. Through the columns of that 
paper he exemplified his pronounced literary attainments. He also served 
as municipal judge at Escanaba, and at the time of his death in 1885 was 
probate judge of Florence County. 

One of three children and the only survivor, Claude M. Atkinson 
gained his education largely in a printing office, said to be one of the 
greatest universities in existence. Every boy has at some time felt the 
fascination of printing, but Claude M. Atkinson acknowledged the fasci- 
nation as the dominant fact in his life and career and his individual 
destiny has been molded largely in a composing or editorial room. Before 
he was twelve years of age and before his father had bought the Escanaba 
Tribune he was rendering what service he could to its owners and picking 
up a knowledge of printing. Though he was doubtless worth something 
to the owners, he was paid nothing the first six months and the second 
six months his salary was only fifty cents a week. That did not dis- 
courage him, and while at Escanaba he mastered the art of printing and 
filled every position in the mechanical offices of the Tribune. In 1879 he 
went to Quinnesec, while that was the center of a wild and adventurous 
community, and was employed as a typesetter. Subsequently he clerked 
in a store at Norway, and also at Quinnesec and at Florence he assisted 
his father in several enterprises, including the founding of the Florence 
Mining News. 

The people of northern Minnesota have long admired the vigorous, 
terse and original way in which Mr. Atkinson expresses himself in the 
editorial and news columns of his paper. It mav be said that he first 
achieved this art of expression while on the Florence Mining News, 
though writing was only an incident of his service in the mechanical 
offices. After his father's death he became editor of the News, and 
subsequently sold it to the distinguished former governor and author, 
Chase S. Osborn, who is one of many distinguished men it has been the 
privilege of Mr. Atkinson to know in the course of his life. 

Like all printers, Mr. Atkinson had the wanderlust and his travels 
and work as a journeyman printer led him far and near. Eventually he 
returned to Iron Mountain, Michigan, where he worked as printer and 
local editor of a paper. Then for about three years he assisted 
Mr. Osborn on the Florence Mining News. At Crystal Falls, Michigan, 
he founded the Diamond Drill, a newspaper still in existence, though he 
sold it after a brief ownership, and was next engaged on some newspapers 
in Salt Lake City ; then bought and conducted the Independent at Rock 
Springs, Wyoming, for two years, and in August, 1897, came to the iron 
ranges of northern Minnesota and for one year was a general utility 
man on the Virginia ; then founded the Republican at Eveleth, selling 
out after about a year, and in May, 1899, bought the Hibbing News, 
which had been established at Hibbing in the spring of 1894, almost at 
the beginning of the existence of Hibbing. In 1901, on account of some 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 975 

litigation over the title, Mr. Atkinson changed the name to The Mesaba 
Ore and Hibbing News, and now conducts both a daily and weekly edi- 
tion, known as the Hibbing Daily News and the Mesaba Ore. The Daily 
News was established in February, 1920, and is the only morning daily on 
the Range. 

Mr. Atkinson was originally a Republican, but changed his party soon 
after coming to St. Louis County because he could not conscientiously 
endorse the actions of local party leaders. Since then he has acted and 
voted independently, and has conducted his paper accordingly. When 
the conflict on the tax levy and expenditures in Hibbing came about he 
espoused the cause of the people. It is his nature never to be a half-way 
man, and he is ill fitted for compromise. As a result of his stand and the 
stand of the paper in this matter he was indicted presumably because of 
the fight he had been making, but was wholly exonerated. Mr. Atkinson 
was appointed postmaster of Hibbing in 1906 and was also one of the 
first members of the local Library Board. 

While for many years he has carried the responsibilities of a news- 
paper. editor and publisher and has always been ready either for a fight 
or a frolic among his fellowmen and in community affairs, his real heart 
may be said to be in the open fields and there is no more enthusiastic 
hunter or fisherman in northern Minnesota than C. M. Atkinson. As a 
sportsman he has killed silver tip bear, deer, moose, antelope, elk, blacktail 
deer, black bear, mountain sheep, mountain lion, and is never happier 
than with a gun over his shoulder or in company with his children on 
hunting trips. He is a real nature lover and hears and responds to the 
summons of running streams and rustling woods, and thus is deeply 
religious though a member of no Christian sect. 

November 24, 1883, Mr. Atkinson married Ida M. Lott, of Iron River, 
Michigan. Of the five children born to their marriage the oldest, 
Claudius, is now deceased. The oldest living son is Marc, now general 
husiness manager of the Hibbing Daily News and the Mesaba Ore, with 
Miss Beatrice Atkinson as society editress and general news reporter. 
The two younger children are Dorothy and William. 

Kohrt Brothers. The commercial and civic life of Hibbing has been 
deeply impressed by the work and personal character of the Khort broth- 
ers almost from the beginning of the village's prosperity and progress. 
In even older communities than Hibbing it is unusual to find so many 
brothers of one family whose work and associations have remained con- 
tinuously identified with the community over a long period of years. 

The names of the brothers who have lived on the Mesaba Range are 
Herman A., now deceased, Christian Frederick, Richard W., Gustav 
Augustus, George, William and Ernest. All were born, reared and 
acquired their early schooling at Elk River in Anoka County, Minnesota. 

Their father, Christian Frederick Kohrt, was born in Germany, was 
reared and liberally educated in his native country, served in the war 
against Austria and later in the Franco-Prussian war. He decided that 
his best interests could be conserved and advanced in a land not domi- 
nated by imperialism and military rule. Soon after his release from army 
service following the Franco-Prussian war he came to the United States, 
was married at Watertown, Wisconsin, and about 1872 moved to Anoka 
County, Minnesota. As soon as possible he naturalized and in Minnesota 
took up a homestead and went through all the trials and vicissitudes of 
pioneer life. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and edu- 
cation and easily attained and maintained a position of leadership among 
the early settlers. For years he served as a member of the School Board, 



976 DULUTH AXD ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

and his influence was felt in helping other children as well as his own 
to better their education. He was also township supervisor and an inde- 
fatigable worker in road improvement. In religion he and his family 
were Lutherans. He and his good wife lived out their lives in Anoka 
County and exemplified in the fullest degree the sturdy, loyal and credit- 
able virtues that are the best assets of American citizenship. 

The first of the Kohrt brothers to come to the Mesaba Range was 
Herman A., who reached Hibbing in the spring of 1900. He was first 
employed as clerk in a meat market, and in the fall of that year Christian 
Frederick Kohrt, named for his father, joined him here and the two 
brothers in 1902 utilized their capital and experience to establish a meat 
business of their own. From time to time all of the brothers eventually 
came to live in Hibbing. Herman A. married and became the father of 
a daughter, and is the only one of the brothers deceased. 

No one questioned the loyalty of the Kohrts, although they were of 
German parentage, when America entered the war against Germany. Two 
of the brothers, Gustav and George, volunteered their services and 
received a lieutenant's commission. Gustav was on the Mexican border as 
a member of old Company M, and later went to France and was on duty 
until the armistice was signed. Lieutenant George was retained in this 
country as an instructor at Camp Pike, Arkansas. 

Christian Frederick Kohrt has been continuously a merchant at Hib- 
bing for twenty years, and his business record has exemplified the quali- 
ties of industry, honesty, good citizenship and careful attention to details 
that seem generally characteristic of the entire Kohrt family. He married 
Mary Florence Keene, and they have five children, named Charles, Esther, 
Marquitta, Veronica and Kenneth. 

George L. Brozich. A study of the prominent men and activities of 
the town of Ely does not proceed far until it encounters the name and 
influence of George L. Brozich, who is a successful banker, real estate 
operator, former president of the Commercial Club, and a loyal and 
interested worker in every phase of his community's progress and 
advancement. 

Mr. Brozich was born at Schwenberg, Austria, March 12, 1878, son 
of George and Katharine Brozich. His father came to America in 1883, 
was first identified as a worker with the copper country of Calumet, 
Michigan, and in 1890 moved to the Iron Range in Minnesota, being 
successively a citizen of Ely, Biwabik and Virginia, and finally home- 
steaded land in Koochiching County, Minnesota, where he lived out his 
years and where he died in 1919, at the age of seventy-two. George 
Brozich, Sr., was appreciative of his opportunities as an American citizen, 
became naturalized as soon as possible, and was a man of quiet industry 
who earned esteem wherever he lived. He was a carpenter by trade, and 
followed that line of work all over the Iron Range, constructing some 
of the first houses at Biwabik and Virginia. His widow is still living at 
the home of her son George L., who is her oldest child. Her second son, 
John Carl Brozich, is superintendent of the Miller Mine at Aurora, 
Minnesota, and the daughter, Marie E., is the wife of Jacob Jackshe, of 
Aurora. 

George L. Brozich was ten years of age when he and his mother came 
to the United States to join his father. He had attended school in 
Austria and after coming to this country was in school at Calumet, 
Biwabik and Virginia. After completing his education he found an open- 
ing as an employe of the First National Bank at Virginia. A brief expe- 
rience gave him an ambition to become a banker, and in order to fit 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 977 

himself for the profession as a life work he resigned and took a com- 
mercial law and banking course at St. John's College in Collegeville, 
Minnesota, where he spent two years. On leaving college instead of 
returning to banking he became interested in merchandising, and for a 
year and a half was connected with a mercantile establishment at Colo- 
rado City, Colorado, and was then manager of a department store at 
Joliet, Illinois, for three years. 

Mr. Brozich returned to Minnesota in 1902, and since, that year has 
been an active citizen of Ely. He was assistant cashier of the Bank of 
Ely until it was consolidated with the Exchange Bank. For five years 
his time and enterprise were devoted to the real estate and insurance 
business, and he is now president of the Vermillion Realty Company, 
which has been reorganized under the title of Superior National Outing 
Company. Mr. Brozich had an active part in organizing the First State 
Bank of Ely, and as its cashier has been instrumental in making it one 
of the leading banks of northern Minnesota. 

It was Mr. Brozich who in 1913 was chiefly responsible for the organi- 
zation of the Commercial Club at Ely. Also through his efforts this club 
became officially a part of the city organization, and a portion of local 
taxation is devoted to its maintenance and functions. In and through 
this club have been directed the civic energies which have done most for 
Ely within recent years. Mr. Brozich was for four years honored with 
the office of president of this club. He served two years as a member of 
the City Council and two years as mayor, and in many other ways has 
been active in public affairs. He was president of the St. Louis County 
Club. Mr. Brozich is affiliated with the Rotarians, Foresters and Elks, 
and he and his family are Catholics. 

In 1908 he married Anna M. Horwat, of Joliet, Illinois. Their three 
children are Robert J., William G. and Genevieve Mary. 

Abe Feldman. One of the best known of the younger attorneys of 
St. Louis County, Minnesota, is Abe Feldman, of Duluth. His life has 
been one of hard study and research from his youth and since maturity 
of laborious professional duty, and the high position which he has 
attained in his profession is evidence that the qualities which he possesses 
afford the means of distinction under a system of government in which 
places of honor and usefulness are open to all who may be worthy of 
them. 

Abe Feldman was born in Russian Poland on the 1st day of July, 
1890, and is the eldest of the seven children born to Morris and Sarah 
Feldman. His father was the first of the family to come to the United 
States, and from 1892 to 1896 he was engaged in a mercantile business 
at Ironwood, Michigan, from which place he moved to Eveleth, Minne- 
sota, where he still resides. In 1896 the mother brought her children to 
this country and joined the father at Eveleth, where he is still engaged 
in the mercantile business. Abe Feldman received his elementary educa- 
tion in the public schools of Eveleth, and then entered the University of 
Michigan, which he attended four years, having one year of academic 
study and three years in the department of law, where he was graduated 
in 1911, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Immediately thereafter 
Mr. Feldman entered upon the practice of his profession at Chicago, 
Illinois, but soon afterward returned to Eveleth and became associated in 
the practice of law with James P. Boyle, a partnership which was con- 
tinued until 1914. From August 1, 1914, to January 1, 1915, Mr. Feld- 
man served as city attorney of Eveleth. In January, 1915, he came to 
Duluth and has been engaged in the practice of his profession continu- 



978 DULUT.H AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

ously since that time. By a straightforward, honorable course he has 
built up a large and lucrative legal business, his life affording a splendid 
example of what a youth, plentifully endowed with good common sense, 
energy and determination, may accomplish in America when directed and 
controlled by earnest moral principles. 

On August 9, 1916, Mr. Feldman was married to Esther Rabinowitz, 
the daughter of Frank and Rose Rabinowitz, of Eveleth, Minnesota. 
Mrs. Feldman attended the public schools of Eveleth and later graduated 
from the Saint Cloud Normal School, after which for several years she 
taught school at Eveleth. To Mr. and Mrs. Feldman have been born 
three children, Arthur Harold, Shirley Jean and Carolyn. 

W. P. Lardxer. In all that constitutes true manhood and good citi- 
zenship W. P. Lardner, one of the best known of Duluth's business men. 
is a notable example and none stands higher than he in the esteem and 
confidence of the community honored by his citizenship. His career has 
been characterized by duty faithfully done and by industry, thrift and 
wisely directed efforts he has acquired a liberal share of this world's 
goods. He is a man of good judgment and pronounced views, and takes 
an intelligent interest in all public affairs, especially as pertaining to his 
own community, in the growth and development of which he has been 
an active factor. 

W. P. Lardner was born January 24, 1867, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
is the eldest of the six children now living who blessed the union of his 
parents, three others being deceased. His father, Henry Lardner, who 
died at Niles, Michigan, in 1914, was interested in extensive business 
affairs for many years, his interests running largely to banking and real 
estate. In 1887 he was a partner in the Paine & Lardner Bank in Duluth, 
as he was also in its successor, the Security Bank of Duluth, which was 
organized in 1889, with a capital stock of $100,000, and of which institu- 
tion he was a director. This bank was successfully operated until 1896. 

W. P. Lardner received his educational training in the public schools 
of Niles, Michigan, and on completing his studies he became connected 
With the banking business in that city, starting as a messenger and after- 
ward becoming paying teller, which position he held until 1887. He then 
came to Duluth and became a partner in the banking firm of Paine & 
Lardner, of which he acted as cashier, and also held the same official 
position in the Security Bank of Duluth. He then withdrew from the 
banking business and turned his attention to life insurance in 1897, con- 
tinuing successfully engaged in this business until 1901, when he became 
an operator in mineral lands, to which he has devoted himself continu- 
ously since. He is also heavily interested in Oklahoma oil lands. He 
has handled enormous quantities of these lands, and has been more than 
ordinarily successful in his business affairs. 

In November, 1887, Mr. Lardner was married in Duluth to Ruhamah 
Finley, a daughter of Thomas, Jr., and Lucy Griffin Finley, of Niles, 
Michigan. Her grandparents came respectively from New York and 
Maryland originally. Mr. and Mrs. Lardner have no living children. 
They are members of the Protestant Episcopal Church and Mr. Lardner 
is a member of the American Lafayette League. A man .of honest 
motives and generous impulses, he has won and retains a host of warm 
and loyal friends. While he has prosecuted a special line of business 
on his own account, he also belongs to that class of representative citizens 
who promote the public welfare while advancing individual success, and 
he possesses to a marked degree those sterling qualities which command 
uniform confidence and regard. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS 'COUNTY 979 

Frank H. Cohoe. Until the present century life presented its oppor- 
tunities to Frank H. Cohoe largely in the field of agriculture in his native 
province of Ontario. Soon afterward he came to the Range country of 
northern Minnesota, and from one responsibility to another has identified 
himself with the active operations of iron ore mining, and for several 
years past has been general superintendent of the Hibbing-Chisholm 
District for the Hanna Ore Mining Company. 

Mr. Cohoe was born in Oxford County, Ontario, May 4, 1869, one 
of the five living children of Justus and Marion (Farrington) Cohoe. 
His father was born in Canada, but his mother was a native of the state 
of New York. Growing up on a farm and acquiring a public school 
education, Frank H. Cohoe had the sound environment and training of 
a country boy, and at the age of twenty-one began his individual career 
as a farmer. In March, 1902, he came to the iron ranges of northern 
Minnesota and was first employed for a brief time by the Oliver Iron 
Mining Company at Hibbing as a sampler of iron ore and also in the 
billing of cars. He was next engaged in looking after supplies and doing 
clerical work until December, 1903. He sought every opportunity to 
improve his knowledge of iron ore, and in December, 1903, came his first 
important promotion when he was made surface foreman in the Hull- 
Rust Mine of the Oliver Iron Mining Company. In June, 1905, he was 
promoted to night foreman of stripping operations in that mine. A year 
later he became general foreman in the stripping of the Sellers Mine, and 
continued so until November 1, 1912. He was then sent with a picked 
crew to strip the Graham Mine at Old Mesaba, a work that continued 
during the winter of 1912-13. In April, 1913, he returned to the Burk- 
Sellers Mines as general foreman, and in February, 1914, was assigned 
work in stripping the Kerf Mine. In August, 1914, he went with the 
Arthur Iron Mining Company as superintendent of the Leonard and 
Dunwoody Mines. The Arthur Mining Company leased its operating 
facilities to the Hanna Ore Mining Company, and Mr. Cohoe worked 
with the latter organization as general superintendent, and in that capac- 
ity has been retained. 

He is a well-known man in the mining circles of the Hibbing District. 
He is a Republican in politics, a member of the Algonquin and Kiwanis 
Clubs, and was reared in the Quaker church but is not a member of any 
religious denomination. At the age of twenty-one he married Miss Elsie 
Kelly, of Oxford County, Ontario. They have two children, Awrey W. 
and Welby C. Welby was trained in the Aviation Department of the 
American Armies, and for the greater part of his service was stationed 
at Montrose, Scotland, and completed his training about ten days before 
the signing of the armistice. 

J. R. Patterson has been one of the energetic business men of the 
Head of the Lakes district for the past fifteen years, and is now manager 
of the well-known commission house of Paine, Webber & Company. 

On coming to Duluth in 1905 he took charge of the contracting depart- 
ment of the Duluth & Mesaba Railway. That was his work for four 
years, and then after other experiences he became cashier on December 
31, 1915, of Paine, .Webber & Company, grain and bond brokers, and 
since 1919 has been manager of that firm. 

David Reid Black. A successful business is one that performs an 
essential service and has a gratifying growth in volume and patronage 
from year to year. Measured by such a standard one of the high class 
firms of Duluth is the D. R. Black Company, plumbing and heating, an 

Vol. Ill — 4 



980 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

old established industry. This corporation has been in existence for six- 
teen years. Its founder and active head, David Reid Black, has been 
identified with his trade and business in this city for over thirty years. 

Along with his proficiency and thoroughness in the mechanical detail 
of his trade Mr. Black possessed those qualities of the business executive 
that enabled him to control and direct an establishment of his own, and 
his efficiency is partly due to the fact that he has been depending upon 
himself since boyhood. He was born in Scotland. His father, Allan 
W. Black, brought his family to America in 1883, coming with six 
children. For one year he lived at Milwaukee, then removed to St. Paul, 
Minnesota. 

David R. Black, fifth among the children, was fourteen years old 
when he came to America, and about two years later began doing for 
himself. He had a common school education, and he served his appren- 
ticeship in the plumbing and heating business at St. Paul. About thirty- 
one years ago he came to Duluth, and while he is a citizen of varied social 
and civic relationships, his fundamental work from the beginning has 
been in the plumbing and heating line. He was manager for Allan Black, 
a brother, who had four places of business, one at Grand Forks, one at 
Minneapolis, one at St. Paul and one in Duluth. David R. Black man- 
aged the Duluth business branch for a time and then took it over, and 
it has since been under his individual direction. The D. R. Black Com- 
pany was incorporated in 1904 and has handled many large contracts 
as well as a great volume of general business in heating, plumbing and 
ventilating. The company is located in its own building at 314 West 
First street in Duluth. 

Mr. Black is a member of the State Society of Sanitary and Heating 
Engineers. He is a director and for many years a member of the Duluth 
Builders Exchange. He is also a member of the Heating and Piping 
Contractors' National Association. Largely through the weight of his 
individual experience and business character he has given his company 
a prestige and responsibility all over northern Minnesota. 

Mr. Black is a member of the Commercial Club, a member of the 
Longview Tennis Club, an associate member of Duluth Council Boy 
Scouts of America, is a life member of the Elks and a member of all the 
Masonic bodies including the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Duluth 
Boat Club and the Kiwanis Club. He was born and reared a Presby- 
terian, and in politics is a Republican. 

In 1899, at Duluth, Mr. Black married Miss Flora J. Louden, only 
daughter of Robert Louden, a lumberman and old settler of Duluth, now 
living in Portland, Oregon. To their marriage were born four children, 
all of whom are being given every encouragement and advantage in the 
way of school and college education for useful careers. The children are: 
David L., a student in the University of Virginia at Charlottesville ; Allan 
W., a student in the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington; Newton R., 
who attends the Augusta Military Academy at Fort Defiance, Virginia ; 
and Genevieve, only daughter, a student in the Duluth High School. 

Capt. Elisha Morcom. A great deal of the history of ore mining in 
northern Minnesota might be written from the experiences of the Mor- 
com family. The late Capt. Elisha Morcom had the distinction of 
opening the first iron mine in Minnesota. That was over thirty-seven 
years ago, and he and other members of the family have figured promi- 
nently in the districts around Tower ever since. 

Elisha Morcom was born in the Parish of Kenwyn, Cornwall, England, 
May 5, 1835, being son of a mining captain in Cornwall. When he was 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 981 

only fifteen years of age he voluntarily left school to go to work in a 
coal mine in Cornwall. While he had a limited amount of schooling, he 
never regarded his education as finished, and was a student and close 
observer of men and affairs all his life. He had the faculty of executive 
direction, and his abilities as a manager were as valuable as his technical 
skill in mining operations. • Four years after going to work in a coal 
mine he came to the United States, in 1854, in company with an uncle, 
William Grose. He landed at Philadelphia, and from there went on to 
the copper mines of Keweenau County, Michigan, and after two years 
removed to Ontonagon County in the same state. He was given the 
responsibility of mining captain at Rockland, Michigan, in 1863. From 
1865 to 1870 he was mine agent for the Norwich Mine, and then for two 
years mine captain at the Nonesuch Mine at Nonesuch. In 1878 he 
was given charge of the underground work at Quinnesec on the Menomi- 
nee Range, with the rank of captain with the Menominee Mining Com- 
pany, finally becoming superintendent. 

It was in 1884 that Captain' Morcom was chosen as superintendent for 
the Minnesota Mining Company and ordered to make preparations for 
the opening of the ore mines at Tower. His first work was to arrange 
for building homes for the miners. The first mines of the Range were 
opened under his direct supervision and the workers he imported largely 
from his wide acquaintance in the mining districts of Michigan. They 
came by way of Superior across the ice to Duluth, and thence were con- 
veyed overland to Tower, which was then without railroad facilities. 
For several years after 1889 Captain Morcom also operated a brick 
plant at Soudan. His services as a mining expert were in great demand. 
S. P. Ely sent him on several occasions to open iron mines on the Island 
of Cuba. He also opened the mines at McKinley on the Mesaba Range 
and did much of a similar work in Michigan. He also explored the mines 
on the Mesaba Range at Coleraine. Many prominent mining officials in 
Michigan and Minnesota, some of those who hold responsible positions 
on the Range today, acquired their early training from the late Captain 
Morcom. 

An important record of public service could also be compiled to his 
credit. While in Michigan he held such offices as state legislator and 
county supervisor, and at Tower was for many years a member of the 
School Board and mayor, had charge of the Minnesota state mining dis- 
play at the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893, for many years was a mem- 
ber of the Board of County Commissioners of St. Louis County and 
chairman of the board. He was a master of Quinnesec Lodge of Masons, 
and was affiliated with the Knight Templar Commandery and the Shrine. 
In politics he was a Republican, and was a liberal contributor to the 
support of all churches. 

Captain Morcom, who died at Tower November 21, 1908, married at 
Rockland, Michigan, in October, 1858. Elizabeth Ann Wicks. They had 
journeyed side by side as husband and wife for just half a century. 
Mrs. Morcom, who is still living, was born in Cornwall, England, Septem- 
ber 16, 1842, and. was brought to America by her father, John Wicks, a 
mining captain who settled in Michigan. Captain and Mrs. Morcom had 
three daughters and two sons. Two of the daughters, Carrie and Har- 
riet, are now living with their mother at Tower and were in charge of 
the postoffice at Tower for twenty-four years. The other daughter, 
Alvina, is the wife of Rev. Edward Bull, of Keithburg, Illinois. The 
two sons are Elisha, J., Jr., and Harry W., the latter a successful physi- 
cian at Duluth. 



982 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Elisha J. Morcom, Jr., was born in Ontonagon County, Michigan, 
September 30, 1865. He never attended school after he was thirteen, but, 
like his father, has been a student all his days. At thirteen he went to 
work in machine shops and as a young man was employed as a machinist 
with the Marinette Iron Works at Duluth. Mr. Morcom arrived on the 
Minnesota Iron Range on St. Patrick's Day, 1884. Of old-timers on the 
Range at that date some eight or ten still remain, including Mr. Morcom, 
and these pioneers managed to celebrate a little reunion nearly every 
year. Mr. Morcom was employed as a machinist at Ely for eleven years, 
and also had some interesting experiences in Cuba and Mexico. In Cuba 
he was on a railroad survey, and while in Mexico during 1891-92 was 
employed on a drainage plant in the city of Mexico, a public utility that 
was established in the early history of that city. While at Ely 
Mr. Morcom was with the Chandler Mine. In 1905 he was trans- 
ferred to the Soudan Mine and for seventeen years has been local master 
machinist and general foreman of that plant. Mr. Morcom was also one 
of the organizers and is president of the Vermillion Boat and Outing 
Company of Tower, an organization that looks after the comforts of 
many thousands of tourists to the Lake Vermillion district every year. 

April 26, 1893, he married Mary E. Coffey, daughter of Bartholomew 
Coffey. She was born in Michigan. They have four children. The sons, 
Harold E. and Clifford J., are both employed in the local shops of the 
Soudan Mine, and the other two children, Alvina and Ronald J., are both 
at home. Clifford was with the Twenty-first Recruits Engineering Corps 
at Camp Forrest, Georgia, during the World war. 

For six years Mr. Morcom has been master of Vermillion Lodge of 
Masons, is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and Council at Duluth 
and the Knight Templar Commandery at Eveleth. He is a Republican 
in politics, for several years has been a member of the Tower School 
Board, and has also been township supervisor and justice of the peace. 
He performs a practical duty in maintaining religious facilities. 

William O. Pealer was born on a farm adjoining the village of 
Asbury, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, August 4, 1855. His grand- 
father, Daniel Pealer, moved to that county in an early day and accu- 
mulated several hundred acres of rich farming lands. Daniel Pealer was 
the father of fourteen children, twelve sons and two daughters. The 
oldest son, George, became the father of the subject of this sketch. He 
was born in 1818, and assisted his father until his marriage to Rebecca 
Hampton, when he bought a piece of land and commenced farming for 
himself, clearing and improving the farm on which William O. was born. 

William O. Pealer's great-grandfather on his mother's side was Abijah 
Hopkins, a prominent Episcopal bishop and circuit rider in western New 
York and northern Pennsylvania during the early days. 

George and Rebecca Pealer became Methodists, were Whigs in politics 
and were prominent in the early history of the Republican party and 
staunch Unionists during the Civil war. William O. was next to the 
youngest and is the only survivor of a family of eight children. He 
worked on the farm during the summer season and attended the district 
school during the winter. Later, during the spring and fall months, he 
attended one term at the Orangeville Academy and two terms at the 
Columbus Academy, Pennsylvania, and during the winter taught district 
school. 

In 1877 he came west to Three Rivers, Michigan, where he made his 
home with his brother Russell R. Pealer, a prominent lawyer of southern 
Michigan who begun his practice at Three Rivers in 1867. Russell R. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 983 

Pealer was a soldier in the Civil war, and served as circuit judge of 
St. Joseph County and Branch County, Michigan, from 1882 to 1888. 

William O. Pealer attended high school at Three Rivers and gradu- 
ated from there in the spring of 1878. He then read law in the office of 
his brother, and taught a term of district school during the winter of 
that year, returning to the study of law again in the spring. He also 
opened a real estate, office, out of which he made the money to enable 
him to attend the law department of the University of Michigan, from 
which he graduated in the spring of 1882. His brother, Russell R. Pealer, 
having been elected judge of the Circuit Court of that district in the fall 
of 1882, William O. commenced to practice law in the office formerly 
occupied by his brother and continued to do so until Judge Pealer retired 
from the bench, when they entered into a partnership and practiced under 
the name of Pealer Brothers until 1890, when William O. moved to 
Duluth. 

While in Three Rivers, William O. Pealer was active in civic affairs 
and in the development of the city. In 1887, on his instigation, and 
with the assistance of A. C. Titus and Edward B. Lemmon, the Three 
Rivers Building and Loan Association was organized and he became one 
of the managing directors and its attorney. That institution has been 
an active and prosperous institution ever since, and is now one of the 
oldest and leading building and loan associations in the state of Michigan. 

On coming to Duluth Mr. Pealer entered into the active practice of 
law and later formed a partnership with Albert Titus, under the name 
of Pealer & Titus, with offices in both Duluth and Superior, Mr. Pealer 
remaining in Duluth and Mr. Titus in Superior. In 1893 Judge Bruce 
Lemmon, a former schoolmate and friend of Mr. Pealer, joined the firm 
and they continued under the name of Pealer, Titus & Lemmon, until 
the fall of 1896, when Mr. Lemmon died. Later the firm was dissolved, 
Mr. Pealer continuing the practice in Duluth and Mr. Titus in Superior. 

In the fall of 1896 Mr. Pealer formed a partnership for the practice 
of law with Judge Bert Fesler, and they continued to practice under the 
name of Pealer & Fesler until Mr. Pealer was elected referee in bank-, 
ruptcy, and Mr. Fesler became city attorney, when the firm was dissolved. 
Since that time Mr. Pealer has been practicing law alone at Duluth, and 
during the last sixteen consecutive years has filled the office of referee 
in bankruptcy. 

He is a member of the First Methodist Church of Duluth, is a Mason, 
a Knight Templar, a member of the Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, and 
a member of the Commercial Club of Duluth. In June, 1883, he was 
united in marriage with Ida M., daughter of Marvin M. Dennison, of 
Union City, Michigan. Mrs. Pealer died in 1904. He has one daughter, 
Florence M. Pealer. 

John F. Segog. In the exploration, handling and development of 
timber and mineral lines over the northwestern country John F. Segog of 
Duluth has had a conspicuous part for many years. Acting for himself, 
for associates, and for other aggregations of capital his business has been 
one of great variety and involving an enormous aggregate of interests. 

Mr. Segog was born at Canandaigua, New York, November 1, 1859. 
His father, Byron G. Segog, was born in Ireland, was brought to America 
by his parents, and lived at Canandaigua, where he died in 1862. John 
F. Segog, the younger of two children, was three years of age when his 
father died, and he was reared largely by his grandmother. As a boy he 
did farm work in the intervals of his schooling, and remained in his 
native state until his twenty-first year. 



984 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

In 1882, thirty-eight years ago, Mr. Segog came to Minnesota, and 
has ever since been engaged in the timber and mineral land business in 
the northern part of the state. He has his offices in the New Jersey 
Building at Duluth. In later years Mr. Segog has been an active member 
in several organizations that have developed mineral properties. One of 
the most important is the Wyoming Oil & Coal Company, in which he 
is a heavy stockholder and the president. He is also president of the 
Black Diamond Coal Company. Both these companies are fully equipped 
to handle and develop properties for the production of coal and oil. 
Mr. Segog is also president of the Wyoming Chemical Products Com- 
pany, which he organized in 1917. This company has mineral properties 
and rights involving sixteen merchantable mineral products, largely 
derivatives or combinations of potash, aluminum, sulphate and other 
salts. The headquarters of this organization are in Duluth and Mr. Segog 
has active charge of the business. He is a Republican in politics. 

George G. Barnum. One of the old residents of Duluth. Was born 
in Buffalo, New York, October 10, 1843. Enlisted in the Hundredth 
Regiment, New York Volunteers from Buffalo. Served three years in 
the Civil war and retired as captain and is a member of the Loyal Legion. 
Came to Duluth in 1867 as a member of the first survey party, surveying 
a railroad from St. Paul to Duluth, afterwards known as the Lake Super- 
ior and Mississippi Railway Company, of which he was the paymaster 
and purchasing agent. Left the employ of the railroad company in 1873, 
when with Col. J. B. Culver and William R. and George Stone he took 
a contract with the Duluth Blast Furnace Company to bring up 300,000 
tons of iron ore from Marquette. To do this they bought the propeller 
Manistee and steamer Metropolis. The Manistee ran from Duluth -to 
Buffalo and the Metropolis opened a line from Duluth to Marquette. 
These steamers were the first large boats on the lakes owned and operated 
by Duluth people. The Manistee was afterwards lost between Bayfield 
and Ontonagon. The steamer Metropolis, after running several seasons, 
proved to be too small for the trade and was sold. 

Mr. Barnum then entered the grain business at Duluth, was one of 
the incorporators of the Duluth Board of Trade and general manager of 
the Globe Elevator Company with a capacity of 5,000,000 bushels, for 
eighteen years. He then organized the Barnum Grain Company, which 
exists at this time. He has been identified with the Washburn-Crosby 
Company since 1872 and is now one of the directors. 

Herman T. Olson. In the community of Tower the first man in 
business importance and civic enterprise is Herman T. Olson, who has 
been writing his business record there for a number of years, and who 
among other responsibilities holds the office of mayor and chairman of 
the school board. 

Mr. Olson was born at Paskin in Barron County, Wisconsin,. August 
21, 1888, son of Halvor D. and Hattie (Olson) Olson. His mother was 
born in Norway, while his father was of Norwegian parentage and was 
born at Winchester, Wisconsin, in 1866. Halvor Olson followed farm- 
ing and did work in the lumber mills of Wisconsin, and in 1903 removed 
to Tower, where for a number of years he has been identified with the 
police department. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the 
Lutheran Church. There are five living sons : Oscar M., associated in 
business as a merchant with his brother Herman ; Herman T. ; Samuel 
D. ; Albert J., of Virginia; and Henry C, of Duluth, who served with the 
Railroad Engineers in France in the World war. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 985 

Herman T. Olson attended the public schools of his native town of 
Paskin, also the high school at Olivet, Wisconsin, and finished his educa- 
tion in Tower. About the time he left school he went to work for a 
provision and meat company, then for two years was in the general 
merchandise store of O. C. Sovde, for two years was clerk at the railroad 
depot, and after a commercial course in Superior had employment in 
different capacities with T. P. Corey, at Buhl, with the Crete Mining 
Company at Hibbing, and in 1911 became clerk in the store at Tower 
owned by N. J. Branson. He was soon given the responsibilities of man- 
ager and in 1913 he and A. H. Lofgren contracted to buy the thirty thou- 
sand dollar stock of goods. Mr. Lofgren had a thousand dollars and 
Mr. Olson about six hundred, and this was the cash capital with which 
they took over this extensive business. Both were energetic young busi- 
ness men, and they handled the enterprise with gratifying results until 
America entered the war with Germany, when Mr. Lofgren joined the 
army and the entire responsibility fell upon Mr. Olson. He proved equal 
to all demands made upon him, and today has the largest store of general 
merchandise, drugs, hardware, groceries, dry goods and tourists' supplies 
in this section of northern Minnesota. 

Mr. Olson is also president of the Northern Outing Company. He 
was recently elected mayor of Tower, and for several years has been 
chairman of the School Board and secretary of the Commercial Club. He 
is an elder in the Presbyterian Church and is affiliated with the Masons 
and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Olson married Ethel E. 
Burgess, daughter of J. N. Burgess, of Tower. Mrs. Olson died April 
27, 1920, leaving three children: Harriet May, Robert B. and William H. 

W. J. Suffel is one of the veteran merchants and business men of 
Duluth, having been continuously identified with the commercial life of 
the city for thirty-five years. 

He came to Duluth well equipped in business experience gained in his 
native province of Ontario, Canada. He was born at Vienna in that 
province December 29, 1850, a son of George and Anna (Davison) Suffel. 
His father was born in England and after settling in Canada operated a 
general store at Prescott on the St. Lawrence River. He was a merchant 
all his life and a very successful business man. In politics he was a mem- 
ber of the Reform body. He was the father of nine children, four sons 
and two daughters now living. 

Second among them was W. J. Suffel, who grew up and received his 
education in Canadian schools, and was a factor in the home until he 
was twenty-seven years of age. He then became an independent mer- 
chant at Emerson, Manitoba, and left Canada in 1885 to come to Duluth 
and establish a general store, selling dry goods, boots and shoes. He was 
soon enjoying a satisfactory trade and continued the general departments 
of his enterprise until 1902, when he sold out and has since confined him- 
self exclusively to the shoe business. He is now the oldest shoe dealer 
in the city, and his business house at 206 West Superior street has for 
years been known to the best people of Duluth for the high standard of 
quality and service. 

Mr. Suffel is a Republican voter and has long been prominent in the 
Masonic Order. On December 7, 1876, he married Miss Mary R. Suffel, 
whose people also came from Canada. At her death she left four chil- 
dren, Mary R. and George, both deceased, and George E. and William 
R. Suffel. 



986 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Ernest Patrucco, who came to American soil ten years ago, has 
shown a remarkahle ability in adapting himself to the standard and spirit 
of American institutions, and since coming to Duluth, which he selected 
after careful examination of many other cities, has been instrumental in 
developing a unique and important mutual service organization in the 
general real estate field. 

Ernest Patrucco was born in northern Italy June 22, .1890, and landed 
at New York in May, 1910, immediately going to Canada, where for a 
little over a year he was employed by the Anglo-Canadian Tanning Com- 
pany. He then became teller in a private bank at Toronto, and after 
about a year was promoted to cashier, and in that position enjoyed the 
distinction of doubling the business of the previous year. His associa- 
tion with progressive financial leaders next secured him a position with 
the Froster Realty Company, the largest real estate organization in Can- 
ada. He started at the bottom of the ladder and was willing to prove 
his efficiency. In a short time he was promoted and promoted again and 
again, until he became a division manager and handled increasing respon- 
sibilities with punctuality and integrity. In the meantime he had oppor- 
tunity to travel over western and northwestern Canada, and continued 
with the business until the latter part of 1914, when as a result of the 
war business in general was seriously affected all over Canada. 

About that time Mr. Patrucco came to the United States and visited 
many eastern and central cities, spending three months in Chicago and 
eventually came to Duluth. He has always been a man of keen observa- 
tion and of unusual business judgment, and his first, mature and serious 
impressions convinced him that Duluth was the city in which he should 
make his permanent home. He was impressed with the general prosper- 
ity of Duluth, its general health and an atmosphere of contentment and 
happiness. It seemed to him that the prosperity was the result of wealth, 
the wealth was due to health and a good, invigorating climate, and that 
the happiness was derived from both wealth and health. He also took 
into consideration the geographical location of Duluth with respect to 
commercial, advantages. Having some knowledge of the real estate 
profession, he soon opened an office, and in the five years that have 
elapsed he is more enthusiastic than ever about his home city, and is 
thoroughly convinced of the wisdom of his choice of this place as his 
business location and home. 

In 1917 Mr. Patrucco in order the better to serve his clients organized 
and promoted with others a real estate corporation known as the People's 
Realty and Insurance Association, which now has a membership of about 
a thousand stockholders. It is an institution organized under a unique 
co-operative system, endorsed by leading experts, and one that has proved 
most economical, practical and profitable. It has resulted in a wonderful 
simplification of business routine, diminished the cost of operation, and at 
the same time with increased efficiency of service. The company is in 
fact an organization of a thousand members, both clients and patrons of 
the institution, and lending strength to its work because each stockholder 
is an active influence among all his relatives, friends and acquaintances. 

Millard R. Bush. A resident of Duluth more than thirty years, 
Millard R. Bush was distinguished chiefly during his early years by his 
immediate superiors as a very energetic and useful employe, but for the 
past five years has taken a wider interest and part in the city's com- 
mercial life, as president of the well-known grocery house of M. M. 
Gasser & Company, and since 1920 as a representative of the Fitzsim- 
mons Palmer Company, wholesale fruit dealers. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 987 

Mr. Bush was born at Waupun, Wisconsin, March 1, 1865, a son of 
Homer D. and Mary (Pattinson) Bush. His father, a native of Massa- 
chusetts, went to Wisconsin about sixty years ago, was' a pioneer in that 
state, and for many years was engaged in the cigar manufacturing busi- 
ness. Of his family of four children Millard R. was the second, and he 
and his sister, Mrs. Henry T. Duer, are the only survivors. 

Mr. Bush acquired his early education in the public schools of Fond 
du Lac and Waupun, Wisconsin, and in 1882, at the age of seventeen, 
became a grocery clerk at Fond du Lac. During the next five or six 
years he acquired a rather detailed knowledge of the grocery business, 
and that experience was his chief recommendation when he came to 
Duluth in 1888. At that time, more than thirty years ago, he started 
in as a clerk for the M. M. Gasser Grocery Company. In 1890, when 
the store was sold to Epling Brothers, he continued with the new firm 
two years. Following that he was clerk for Henry Foltz until 1900, in 
which year he engaged in business for himself at Lester Park, where he 
owned and operated a high class grocery under his own name until 1915. 

In 1915 a corporation consisting of Arthur Haskins, Clarence Camp- 
bell and Millard R. Bush bought the M..M. Gasser Company, retaining 
the old and honored firm name. This business had been incorporated 
for twenty-four years, and has long been one of the landmarks in the 
business section of West Superior street, the house being located at 209- 
211. The business record of the firm has been one of steady and sure 
growth, and during the past five years the volume of sales and business 
in general has actually doubled. Mr. Bush became president of the 
corporation, a well deserved honor due his long and faithful service. 
On April 15, 1920, he sold his interest in the Gasser Company and on 
June 1, 1920, entered the employ of the Fitzsimmons Palmer Company, 
wholesale fruits, of Duluth, and is so engaged at the present time. 

For about two years, from 1913 to 1915, he was also interested in 
the Mercantile Company. He is president of the Duluth Retail Grocers' 
Association, is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Duluth, is affiliated with 
the Masonic Lodge and is a Republican and a member of the Episcopal 
Church. Away from business his chief recreation is fishing and hunting. 

On November 28, 1889, he married Miss Jennie Uren, of English 
ancestry. She was educated in the public schools of Houghton, Michi- 
gan, and Duluth, and outside of her home has found such substantial 
interests as the Red Cross during war times and membership in literary 
clubs. To their marriage were born four children, all living, Ada, Gladys, 
Charlie and Maude. Ada, who was born March 16, 1892, after finishing 
the work of the public schools of Duluth attended the University of 
Minnesota, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1915, for 
four years was a high school teacher, and in 1919 became Mrs. G. F. 
Wallis, and they now reside in Texas. Gladys, who was educated in the 
grade and high schools of Duluth, attended Duluth Business University, 
and is now a stenographer at 312 Columbia Building, Duluth. The son 
Charles also had the advantages of the Duluth public schools, spent one 
year on the fire patrol of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, and for 
three years past has been a bookkeeper in the First National Bank of 
Duluth. Maude, the youngest of the children, was educated in the gram- 
mar and high schools of Duluth and is now attending the Duluth Business 
University. 

William M. Prindle is president of W. M. Prindle & Company, 
which firm is engaged in the handling of high class properties in Duluth 
and the placing of first mortgage loans. He is president of Prindle-Jones 



988 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Company and vice president of Kirby-Griggs Company, which companies 
operate a large insurance agency, handling all classes of insurance. He 
is also vice president of the George G. Newton Company of Superior, 
Wisconsin, which company does a general real estate, mortgage loan and 
insurance business. 

Mr. Prindle was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, September 23, 1861, 
son of George and Christine (Turner) Prindle. A few years later the 
family moved to Wilmington, Illinois, where George Prindle was active 
for manv years as a retail merchant, returning later to Kalamazoo, where 
he died 'in 1901. 

William Prindle attended the public schools in Wilmington, the Monee 
Academy for Boys and Kalamazoo College. After leaving college he 
was employed in the operating department of the Chicago & Alton Rail- 
road in various localities. He left the Chicago & Alton Railroad when 
an opportunity arose for him to enter the general freight agent's office 
of the Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company, and was soon advanced 
to the president's office. This company was later absorbed by the Chi- 
cago, Santa Fe & California Railroad, now a part of the Atchison, Topeka 
& Santa Fe system. 

In March. 1887, Mr. Prindle came to Duluth and was associated with 
Mr. Charles H. Clague in the real estate business until 1893. At that 
time he organized with Mr. E. A. Merrill, then president of the Minne- 
sota Loan and Trust Company, the firm of W. M. Prindle & Company, 
which has always been one -of the foremost real estate firms of Duluth. 
Later Mr. Merrill retired from business and there are now associated 
with Mr. Prindle in this business Mr. George G. Newton, vice president; 
O. G. Lachmund, treasurer ; E. M. Dunbar, secretary, and William H. 
Jones, vice president of Prindle-Jones Company. 

There has been a steady development and growth in the business from 
year to year and it now represents a large and complete organization for 
the handling of properties, the making of mortgage loans and the writing 
of insurance. Connected with this office are twenty-five employes. 

Mr. Prindle is a Republican, a member of the various civic and social 
clubs of the city, and has always taken an active interest in the develop- 
ment of Duluth. He is also a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, 
the Sons of the Revolution and the Mayflower Society. 

January 18, 1888, Mr. Prindle married Mina N. Merrill, of Minne- 
apolis, daughter of Daniel P. Merrill, of Geneseo, Illinois. Mr. and 
Mrs. Prindle have one daughter, Muriel, who married Cornelius A. 
Wood and now lives at Andover, Massachusetts. 

Joseph Randall, who is chief of the Duluth Fire Department, has 
been one of the valiant and gallant fire fighters of this northern city from 
pioneer days, when the equipment was meager, when there were no 
modern streets and boulevards, and when the buildings were chiefly one 
and two-story affairs. 

Mr. Randall was born May 6, 1864, in Ontario, Canada, and came to 
the United States in 1883, at the age of nineteen, with his mother and 
other members of the family. His father had died in Canada in 1882. 
Of seven sons and five daughters two daughters are still living. Joseph 
Randall, who acquired his early education in country schools in Canada, 
found employment in a livery stable soon after coming to Duluth, and 
later was a driver on one of the old horse cars when municipal transporta- 
tion was dependent upon the strength of mules or horses to pull the cars 
along the rails. Not long afterward he began his association with the 
city fire department as a driver, and in 1889 was appointed a captain, in 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 989 

1893 was promoted to assistant chief of the fire fighting forces, and 
since July, 1909, has been chief of the squadron. Chief Randall is per- 
haps the only man who can tell from personal experience and knowledge 
the history of Duluth's fire service through the past thirty or thirty-five 
years. He is one of the veteran fire fighters of the northwest, has kept 
the confidence and esteem of citizens and his subordinates, and has given 
Duluth a splendid service in every respect. 

He is affiliated with Lakeside Lodge No. 283 of the Masonic Order, 
and is a member of the Rotary Club, the order of Elks and in politics 
votes as a Republican. October 28, 1896, at Duluth, he married Miss 
May Patterson. They have two children, Margaret E., a graduate of the 
University of Minnesota, and John J., now a student in high school. 

Earl H. Marshall is one of the youngest wholesale merchants of 
Duluth, being treasurer and general manager of the Marshall-Brown 
Company, wholesale jobbers of cigars, tobaccos and candies at 306 West 
Michigan street. 

Mr. Marshall, who from early boyhood has been identified by actual 
experience with the candy and tobacco business, was born at Grand 
Rapids, Michigan, September 20, 1891, fourth among the nine children 
of W. H. Marshall. His father was a native of Ireland and spent his 
active career as a farmer. Earl H. Marshall secured his early education 
at Grand Rapids, and at the age of ten years was selling newspapers on 
the streets of that city. At fourteen he became a candy-maker's helper 
in the factory of the Nation Candy Company and two or three years 
later, in 1908, came to Duluth, and in 1910 entered the cigar business. 
He was first associated with the Schiller Cigar Company, and later 
operated retail stores of his own at 312 West Superior street and 500 
West Superior street. On October 2, 1919, the Marshall-Brown Com- 
pany was incorporated, with Mr. Marshall as treasurer and general man- 
ager, R. J. Whiteside as president, and V. J. Lanigan, secretary. This 
house has built up a large business as wholesale distributors of cigars, 
tobacco and candy throughout Duluth and the Iron Range district. 

Mr. Marshall is a Republican and is affiliated with the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and the Elks. July 30, 1913, he married Ethel D. 
Cohagen, and they have two children. 

August J. T. Hanft. A prominent feature of the industrial district 
of Duluth is the Globe Duluth Iron Works, one of the founders and 
president of which is August J. T. Hanft, a practical and long experienced 
machinist, who is qualified both. by technical ability and executive capac- 
ity for the active head of this concern. 

Mr. Hanft was born in Michigan November 21, 1881. His father, 
Ernest Philip Hanft, left his native Germany on account of compulsory 
military service and came to America in 1862, living for a time at Detroit, 
but eventually moving to Duluth, where he died in 1884. August J. T. 
Hanft is the youngest of five children, all of whom are still living. He 
was educated in the public schools of Duluth, and as a youth was a cattle 
herder for eight years. Following a three-years' apprenticeship at the 
trade of machinist he worked as a journeyman for eleven years, and then 
with his three brothers formed a partnership in the machinery business 
under the name of the Globe Iron Works at Duluth. The business was 
incorporated as the Globe Duluth Iron Works in 1918, with Mr. Hanft 
president, E. W. Hanft, vice president, Michael P. Binane, secretary 
and treasurer. This company has rapidly extended and expanded, and 
now at its location at South Thirty-ninth avenue, West, operates three 



990 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

large shops, with every modern equipment and device for the handling 
and manufacture of machinery. They operate the most extensive machin- 
ery repair business in the city. 

Mr. August Han ft has always been regarded as one of Duluth's most 
public-spirited citizens. He is a member of Palestine Lodge of Masons, 
is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and a Republican. March 19, 1914, 
he married Miss Signe M. Lindstrom. They have three children: Bar- 
bara, Mary and Isabelle. 

William C. Sargent. Among the strong and influential citizens of 
Duluth, the record of whose lives have become an essential part of the 
history of this section. William C. Sargent has exerted a beneficial 
influence throughout the community where he resides. His chief char- 
acteristics are keenness of perception, a tireless energy and honesty of 
purpose and motive, which have enabled him not only to advance his own 
interests but also to largely contribute to the material and moral advance- 
ment of the city and county honored by his citizenship. 

William C. Sargent was born December 4. 1859, in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, a son of George B. and Mary (Perin) Sargent. George B. 
Sargent was a native of Boston, where he was reared and spent his early 
years. In 1836 he went to Davenport. Iowa, and engaged in the mercan- 
tile business for a number of years, but eventually moved from there to 
New York city, where he became identified with the banking business. 
In 1869 he came to Duluth and engaged in the banking business under 
the name of George B. Sargent & Company, but which was closed out 
by him at the end of five years. He had banking interests throughout 
the state of Iowa, took an active part in public affairs while there, and 
was the originator of the Old Settlers' Association. As a contractor he 
built the first church in Duluth, the Episcopal Church at Second avenue, 
West, and Second street, and also built the Clark House and the Bay 
View House. In many ways he was one of the builders of Duluth, having 
by his efforts contributed in a very definite way to the early growth and 
substantial foundation of this thriving community. He sustained close 
relations with the Jay Cooke banking house of Philadelphia, and during 
the years 1871 and 1872 went abroad three or four times, selling bonds 
the proceeds from which were to finance the Northern Pacific Railway 
for this banking company. George B. Sargent was a man of high attain- 
ments, a discriminating and thoughtful reader and a close observer of 
men and events. He was an authority on matters of finance, and held 
a high position in the circles in which he moved. 

William C. Sargent is the youngest of the ten children born to his 
parents, all being deceased excepting Mr. Sargent and a sister, Mrs. F. W. 
Paine, of 1007 London road, Duluth. After attending the public schools 
Mr. Sargent was a student in the Shattuck School at Faribault, Minne- 
sota, and at St. John's School at Manlius, near Syracuse, New York. 
After completing his studies he went to work for the Northern Pacific 
Railroad in Duluth as clerk. After three years of service in that capacity 
he went into business for himself. In 1896 he was elected sheriff of 
St. Louis County, serving for six years and discharging the duties of the 
office in an efficient and satisfactory manner. Through the years of his 
residence here Mr. Sargeant has been deeply interested in large farming 
enterprises, and at one time opened up a large farm for John G. Williams 
in Carlton County, Minnesota. He has been connected with big dairy 
farms in the capacity of superintendent, and is probably one of the most 
ardent and enthusiastic believers in pure-bred cattle, especially for this 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 991 

particular section of the country, where climate and grasses are well 
adapted for the purpose. 

In 1880 Mr. Sargent engaged in the real estate business, and has 
been a leader in his line almost continually since then, having been iden- 
tified with the establishment of many of the most popular and successful 
additions to the city. He laid out Lakeside, London Addition and Lester 
Park, the latter comprising five divisions, and was associated with the 
Real Estate Exchange in the laying out of Waverly Park and other 
divisions. Besides this particular line of work Mr. Sargent has also 
been identified with a great many other business enterprises in Duluth 
and elsewhere. 

In January, 1887, at Syracuse, New York, he was married to Rhobie 
L. Peck, a daughter of General John J. Peck, of New York state, who 
was a graduate of West Point and prominent as a brigadier-general in 
the Mexican and Civil wars, living to be about sixty-five years old. 
Mrs. Sargent received a splendid education in Syracuse and studied 
music for several years abroad. To Mr. and Mrs. Sargent have been 
born two children. William H., born October 4, 1887, was educated in 
the public schools of Duluth and is now employed at the Duluth Creamery 
and Produce Company. Rhobie L., who is a graduate of the University 
of Minnesota, now holds the position of dietitian in St. Luke's Hospital, 
Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Fraternally Mr. Sargent is a member of the Masonic Order, in which 
he has attained all the degrees, the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks, the Modern Samaritans and the United Order of Foresters, while 
he also holds membership in the Elks Club, the Commercial Club, the 
Kitchi Gammi Club and the Boat Club, having been especially active 
in the last named. He has been successful in business, respected in social 
life and as a citizen has discharged his duties in a manner becoming a 
liberal-minded, intelligent citizen of the state where the essential quali- 
ties of manhood have ever been duly recognized and prized at their 
true value. 

Duluth News-Tribune. The pioneer journalist of Duluth was 
Dr. Thomas Foster, who had earned a high reputation as an editor 
before coming to the Head of the Lakes. He arrived at Duluth and 
established his plant and on Saturday, April 24, 1869, issued the first 
paper ever published at Duluth, known as the Minnesotian. Its chief 
rival was the Superior Tribune, and a wordy and editorial warfare waged 
between the Minnesotian and the Tribune for several years until it was 
definitely determined that Duluth was to be the terminal of the first 
railroad to reach the Head of the Lakes. This question settled and 
Duluth rapidly forging ahead of Superior, the editor of the Tribune, 
recognizing defeat, loaded his press, type, paper and other apparatus 
on a boat and had it ferried across the bay to Duluth. On May 3, 1870, 
the editor and publisher, Mr. R. C. Mitchell, issued the first number of 
the Duluth Tribune. It was a weekly until May 15, 1872, when, sig- 
nalizing the rapid growth of the young city, Mr. Mitchell began the 
publication of the Daily Tribune, a six column paper with Associated 
Press dispatches. Shortly afterward began the financial panic of 1873 
and following years, during which the Daily Tribune suffered many 
hardships and struggles. The daily publication ceased and on September 
11, 1875, the Minnesotian-Herald came into the field. With renewed 
business activity and better prospects Editor Mitchell in 1878 bought 
out the Minnesotian, consolidating it with the Tribune, and for a time 
the Tribune was the only paper in the city. 



992 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

In 1878 W. S. Woodbridge started the publication of the Weekly 
Lake Superior News. The Tribune was rapidly growing, increasing in 
size, and in 1881 the Daily Tribune was re-established and continued by 
Mr. Mitchell until 1889, when he sold it. In 1892 the Tribune was 
sold to the News, and that was the beginning of the present title of the 
News-Tribune. There were several changes of ownership during the 
nineties until in 1899 the News-Tribune came under the control of 
Mr. Milie Bunnell and associates, where it remains today. The News- 
Tribune is not only historically the oldest paper in northern Minnesota 
but is the chief organization for the collection and dissemination of 
news, its special correspondents covering all parts of the great tributary 
territory. 

Clement M. TramiONTIn. Prior to and since the great fire Mr. 
Tramontin has been one of the leading business men and citizens of 
Chisholm, is a merchant with a large following of customers and also 
actively associated with the civic and official life of the village. 

He was born at Iron Mountain, Michigan, February 19, 1887. His 
father, Frank Tramontin, was born in Italy May 1, 1853, and as a youth 
learned and followed the brickmaking trade. In 1884 he came to the 
United States and three years later acquired naturalization as an Amer- 
ican citizen. For twenty years he was employed in the mining district of 
northern Michigan and northern Minnesota, and was also in the saloon 
business for six years. He was one of the first practical mining men to 
visit and begin work in the Tower district of St. Louis County. No rail- 
roads had been built there, and he had to pack in. He is one of the 
veterans of the mining district and is now retired. He married in Italy 
Lucy Francescina, and she followed her husband to the United States 
after he had been here three years. Of their ten children Clement M. is 
the fifth. 

Clement M. Tramontin spent his boyhood days at Iron Mountain, 
Michigan, attended grade schools, and at the age of thirteen was learning 
the business and paying his way as clerk and general utility boy in a gen- 
eral store at Ely, Minnesota. The first nine months his wages amounted 
to his board only. After that he was given $10 a month and board, and 
by the time he had been with the business seven years his services were 
valued at $75 a month and board. When he first went there most of the 
customers upon whom he waited were Indians. 

Mr. Tramontin moved to Chisholm in 1907, and was connected with 
the Jakse general store until the fire of "September, 1908. After that 
destruction the business was resumed in a shack, and he continued with 
the firm about seven months longer. Then with his brother Louis and 
the Sartori brothers he opened a general store. The partnership was 
dissolved at the end of two and a half years, and Mr. Tramontin and his 
brother Louis then established themselves as merchants, operating a gro- 
cery and provision store, and still continue that as one of the leading 
retail concerns of Chisholm. 

On February 8, 1911, Mr. Tramontin married Elisa Martinetti, of 
Soudan, Minnesota. She is of Italian parentage. They have three chil- 
dren : Frederick E., born February 26, 1912 ; Clementia M., born Novem- 
ber 23, 1913; and William F., born February 15, 1915. 

While a hard working business man, Mr. Tramontin has given what 
time he could spare to civic duties. He was a member of committees and 
an active salesman during the Liberty Loan campaigns and served as a 
member of the Home Guard during the war. He is a director and second 
vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and served as village recorder 
of Chisholm in 1913, 1919 and 1920. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 




v — » /yj t vy^ tfsw^iri^LisCA^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 993 

1334 of the Elks, with the local lodge of Owls, and is a member of the 
local Italian organization known as Christopher Columbus Lodge. Polit- 
ically he votes independently and is a member of the Catholic Church. 

James A. MacKillican. A mining engineer and mine operator of 
wide experience whose work has brought him connections in many of the 
western mining fields, James A. MacKillican is a well known figure in 
mining circles at Hibbing, being superintendent of the Meriden Iron Com- 
pany and of the Mace Iron Mining Company. 

He was born in Door County, Wisconsin, January 13, 1882, son of 
George D. and Mary (Foster) MacKillican. His parents were born in 
Ontario, Canada, came to the United States in 1876 and located in Door 
County, Wisconsin, where George McKillican was identified with the 
lumber industry. Later he moved to Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula of 
Michigan, where he died in 1890 and where his widow is still living. 

James A. MacKillican was about seven years of age when his parents 
moved to Escanaba and a year later his father died. He managed to 
acquire a good education in the local schools, graduating from high school 
in 1903. During the remainder of that year and most of 1904 he was a 
student in the University of Michigan, and then entered the Michigan 
School of Mines at Houghton, where he graduated in 1906. Subsequent 
years were spent in a manner and in places calculated to give him the 
largest amount of experience and the widest training to supplement his 
technical education. For about four and a half years he was superinten- 
dent of a mine in Montana for the Michigan & Montana Development 
Company. For six months he was superintendent of the Comet Mine at 
Hailey, Idaho, and another six months were passed with the Utah Copper 
Company at Garfield, Utah. 

After this experience in the far west he returned to Escanaba, where 
for about eighteen months he was city engineer, and in 1912 he came to 
Hibbing as assistant superintendent of the Meriden Iron Company. In 
1917 he was promoted to superintendent of this company, and also was 
made superintendent of the Mace Iron Mining Company. His knowledge, 
executive ability and experience give him every qualification for handling 
the duties of these offices. 

Mr. MacKillican is a vestryman of Christ Memorial Episcopal Church 
of Hibbing, is a Republican voter, a member of the Masonic fraternity 
and belongs to the Commercial Club and the Kiwanis Club. April 20, 
1908, he married Miss Alfa Snyder, of Escanaba, Michigan. Their two 
daughters are Laura Jane and Mary Margaret. 

Edward J. Morrissey. The growth and development of any com- 
munity is largely dependent upon the exertion of those men who devote 
themselves to the exploitation of real estate. Without their energy, vim 
and progressive ideas no locality will move out of the conventional rut, 
outside money will not be attracted to it, and property will be worth but 
little more as the years go by. With the advent of an enterprising, experi- 
enced man well versed in the realty business comes a growth that is 
remarkable. Many communities have proven this, and Buhl has been 
no exception to the rule, and one of the men who has so materially aided 
in its advancement is Edward J. Morrissey, one of the prominent realtors 
of St. Louis County and vice president of the Buhl State Bank. 

Edward J. Morrissey was born at Toronto, Canada, February 5, 1873, 
a son of James and Harriet (Hargrave) Morrissey. James Morrissey 
was born at Queenstown, Ireland, in 1812, and lived to be eighty-six years 
old. After learning to be a mason he developed into a contractor in that 
line of construction work, and as such came to New York state and was 



y94 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

naturalized. His wife was born in Ireland in 1832, and came to the 
United States when young. She, too, lived to an old age, dying when 
eighty-three years old. They had eight children born to them, of whom 
Edward J. Morrissey was the youngest. 

Growing up at Pickering, Ontario, Canada, Edward J. Morrissey 
attended school until he was fourteen years old, when he was apprenticed 
to the brick-laying trade, and when he was seventeen went to the Buffalo 
Iron Works and a year later became a riveter. This firm sent him to 
Chicago, Illinois, to work as a riveter on the Fine Arts building for the 
World's Fair, and when he had completed that contract he went with 
McArthur Brothers, one of the largest contracting firms of that city, and 
was employed on the Drainage Canal construction work. In 1894 he went 
to Wisconsin and was with his brother for a short time, but then went 
into the woods and was a lumberjack for three years. It was then that he 
first came to Minnesota, and for a time was manager of Miles' Saloon at 
Hibbing, leaving that position to open a saloon of his own in that city. In 
April, 1916, Mr. Morrisesy came to Buhl and, buying the Stratford Hotel, 
operated it until March, 191 8, when he remodeled his hotel, and with a 
group of men organized the Buhl State Bank, of which he is vice pres- 
ident. He is also largely interested in real estate, handling principally 
farm properties all over the state. He is at present the president of the 
village of Buhl, having succeeded himself in this office. Politically he is 
a stanch Republican. Fraternally he belongs to Hibbing Lodge Xo. 1022, 
B. P. O. E., and is a charter member of the Moose and Redmen of Hib- 
bing. He is a Catholic. During the great war he gave two years of his 
time to local war activities, and has several testimonial appreciations from 
the administration. Mr. Morrissey was a member of the Liberty Loan 
Committees, of the Legal Advisory Board, and helped to organize the 
American Loyalty League. 

In 1896 he was married to Miss Effie Thomas, of Wisconsin, a mem- 
ber of an old English family, from whom he was legally separated. They 
had one son, Earl S., who was born in 1898. This son enlisted in the 
United States Navy for service during the great war, and was sent to the 
Great Lakes Training Station. He studied radio and finished his course 
in this at Harvard, following which he was sent to Cape Cod, Massa- 
chusetts, where he served until that station was dismantled, and is now 
a chief petty officer in charge of the radio station at Otter Cliff, Maine. 
In October, 1917, Mr. Morrissey was married to Miss Hilda Schwen, 
who was born at Mountain Iron, Minnesota. They have one son, Ed- 
ward J., Jr. 

Edward C. Cloutier. Of all the organizations designed for the well- 
being of a community none can be of more importance than an effective 
police department, for its basic duty is the protection of life and property. 
It is a body with soldierly qualities, disciplined and trained, and pos- 
sesses the same courageous spirit that leads to the endangering of life in 
the performance of duty. Every community should take pride in its 
police, and in testimony thereto see that the chief of this necessary bodv 
be a man worthy of his high station, and, furthermore, give this chief 
adequate material and public-spirited support. One of the fortunate situ- 
ations in which Chisholm, Minnesota, finds itself is that in Edward C. 
Cloutier, its police chief, it has a public official who is trustworthy in 
every particular 

Chief Cloutier was born November 5, 1885, at Somerset in Saint Croix 
County, Wisconsin, the youngest of a family of sixteen children. His 
parents were Damas and Delia (Vague) Cloutier, both of whom were of 
French ancestry but were born in Canada, the father in 1822 and the 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 995 

mother in 1837, their marriage taking place when the latter was but four- 
teen years old. Her death occurred in 1902 and that of the father in 
1904. In early manhood he had been a sailor on the Great Lakes but later 
became a farmer in Saint Croix County, Wisconsin. 

Edward C. Cloutier remained at home until he was sixteen years old, 
in the meantime attending school at Somerset and assisting on the home 
farm. He then went to Stillwater, and being strong and active had no 
difficulty in finding employment, although only a boy in years, in the 
lumber regions. For three winters he worked as a lumberjack in the 
woods, and for three summers rafted logs on the Saint Croix boom. 
Seemingly his chosen occupations were those that especially developed him 
physically and gave him the health and proportions that are often favor- 
ably commented on in his official position today. For three more years 
he worked as a lumberjack in the woods and in the harvest fields in the 
summers. His next move was to Duluth, Minnesota, where three winters 
were spent in the nearby lumber camps and during two of the summers 
he worked as a helper in a boiler shop. It was here that he became 
first identified with police duty, serving one summer as special patrolman 
on the docks. In April, 1908, Mr. Cloutier came to Chisholm and served 
for four and a half years as police officer for the Oliver Mining Com- 
pany. After retiring from that connection he was appointed a village 
patrolman, and in 1916 was promoted to a sergeantcy. He is now serving 
in his third consecutive term as chief of police. 

Chief Cloutier was married July 2, 1912, to Miss Elizabeth Rice, of 
Ironwood, Michigan. They are members of the Roman Catholic Church. 
He belongs to the Knights of Columbus and the Elks. During the great 
war he was a member of the Home Guard and was active on committees 
in all the patriotic movements. 

Alfred J. McAlpin. Ably filling an office that calls for personal 
courage, endurance, good judgment and executive ability, Alfred J. Mc- 
Alpin, chief of the Chisholm Fire Department, enjoys with the esteem 
and respect of his fellow citizens a large measure of their sincere ad- 
miration. The duties of fire chief are never light and the responsibility 
is always heavy. Under Chief McAlpin's administration the department 
has been brought to a high standard of excellence, the equipment has been 
kept instantly available and up to date, and the fire losses have been ma- 
terially reduced. 

Alfred J. McAlpin was born January 6, 1883, at Maple Lake, Wright 
County, Minnesota, the sixth in a family of ten children born to James 
and Mary (McDonald) McAlpin. His father was born in Ireland, came 
to Canada when young, and in early manhood to the United States, where 
he was naturalized. He has been engaged in agricultural pursuits for 
many years. The mother of Chief McAlpin was of Irish parentage but 
was born in Canada. He had educational privileges in the public schools 
of Maple Lake until fifteen years old, after which for five years he gave 
his father assistance on the home farm. 

In 1903 Mr. McAlpin went to North Dakota, where for a time he 
was clerk in a hotel, and afterward for about a year operated a grain 
elevator. Returning then to his home in Wright County, in partnership 
with a brother he leased and operated a farm for one year. Not being 
quite satisfied with his future prospects in the farming line, he then went 
to Minneapolis, in which city he was employed for a year by the Killgon- 
Peddler Dump Car Works. It was in 1907 that he came to Chisholm to 
work for the Shenango Furnace and Mining Company on a diamond drill, 
later going to Hibbing in the same capacity. Once more he returned 
home, but only for six months, when he went back to Hibbing and for 

Vol. Ill— 5 



996 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

two years afterward was a pipe man in the fire department there. In 
1909 he again came to Chisholm, and served until 1912 as assistant chief 
of the fire department here. From 1912 to 1914 he was a patrolman in 
the police department, at the end of that time being appointed fire chief. 

Chief McAlpin was married May 7, 1912, to Miss Mary Seeley, of 
Cass Lake, who was born at Park Rapids, Hubbard County, Minnesota. 
Her father was born in New York and her mother in Germany, the latter 
having been brought to the United States in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Alpin have three children : Russell J., Edith M. and Joseph L., aged 
respectively seven, four and two years. Chief McAlpin and wife are 
members of the Catholic Church, and he belongs to the order of Knights 
oi Columbus, and additionally is a member of the Brotherhood of Amer- 
ican Yeoman and of Chisholm Lodge of Elks, No. 1334. 

Otherwise than noted above, Chief McAlpin has been an active and 
useful citizen of Chisholm. During the entire period of the great war he 
was a member of the Home Guard body, and freely gave his services on 
patriotic committees in relation to the Savings Stamps and Liberty Loan 
drives. For three years he served on the Chisholm Board of Health, and 
in every way has cheerfully accepted even burdensome responsibilities that 
in his judgment pertain to the privilege of citizenship and add to the 
general welfare of the community. 

John F. Fredin has been a resident and business man of Duluth forty 
years, and during the greater part of that time has been one of the build- 
ing mason contractors of Northern Minnesota. His name is held in the 
highest respect and there is an increasing appreciation of the substantial 
qualities of his work and of his character as well. 

He was born in Sweden March 7, 1854. He grew up on the farm of 
his parents, acquired a common school education, and before leaving 
Sweden learned the art of masonry in stone and brick. He was about 
twenty-six years of age when he came to Duluth, and as an individual or 
as a contractor he has been identified with many of the most important 
construction enterprises in brick and stone since he came here. He and 
his organization laid the foundation for the Duluth Union Depot, and 
a number of the city's best school houses and other public buildings, in- 
cluding the Central High School. Mr. Fredin is a member of the Old 
Settlers Association of Duluth and has long been officially identified with 
the First Swedish Baptist church. He married at Duluth September 3, 
1881, Anna Walldenspron, a native of Sweden. Three of their children 
died in early childhood. ' The seven to grow up were Allgott F., Conrad 
George, David Herbert, John F., Jr., Esther, Gertrude and Hedvick Vir- 
ginia. Mr. and Mrs. Fredin gave their children the best educational ad- 
vantages, and most of them are now well established in homes or occupa- 
tions of their own. John F. Jr., and Conrad both saw overseas service 
in the great World war, John in the infantry and Conrad with the en- 
gineers. Mrs. Fredin passed away on the 16th of May, 1919. 

John H. Tresider. Thirty years a resident of northern Minnesota, 
John H. Tresider has abundantly proved his fidelity, his capability and 
his talents as a factor in the life of the Iron Ranges and has long been 
one of the trusted and responsible men in the service of the Oliver Iron 
Mining Company. He is now master mechanic for that corporation in 
the Chisholm district. 

He was born in Ontonagon County, Michigan, August 4, 1875, son of 
Joel and Susan (Rodgers) Tresider. His father and mother were both 
born in England. His father came to this country when a young man and 
for many years followed mining on the northern ranges. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 997 

Youngest of three children, John H. Tresider spent his early life in 
Greenland, Michigan, where he attended the public schools through the 
eighth grade. He was only about twelve years of age when his father 
died, and that event threw him upon his own resources and he has been 
master of his fate and destiny ever since. About 1888 his widowed 
mother moved to Tower, Minnesota, and that brought Mr. Tresider to 
the Range district of northern Minnesota, and his first employment was 
with the concern that preceded the old Minnesota Iron Company in the 
capacity of a horse driver at a derrick hoisting ore in the South Lee Mine. 
Subsequently he had various other working positions, giving him a liveli- 
hood and presenting opportunities to acquire a broadly diversified knowl- 
edge of the iron mining industry. He was drill carrier, apprentice in a 
machine shop and learned the machinist's trade, and about 1900 was 
promoted machine shop foreman. In 1902 he was appointed master 
mechanic and in 1905 transferred as master mechanic of the Mountain 
Iron District. In 1910 came another transfer that was in fact a promo- 
tion when he was made master mechanic of the Canisteo District at 
Coleraine. From 1917 to 1920 he was superintendent of the Holman 
Mine at Taconite and since January 1, 1920, has been master mechanic 
of the Chisholm District. 

Few men know the Mesaba Range more intimately than Mr. Tresider. 
While his years have been devoted to business, he found time while at 
Mountain Iron to serve about three years on the Village Council and while 
at Coleraine was township supervisor four years and for two years a 
member of the School Board. He is a Republican and a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. June 9, 1898, he married Anna McDonald, 
of Tower. Their three children are named Mae, Margaret and Arline. 

Arthur R. Folsom. Of all of the professions the law, perhaps, 
requires the largest amount of study along generally uninteresting lines, 
for the physician is apt to become absorbed in scientific discovery at the 
beginning of his reading, while the minister starts out with a mind illum- 
ined and a heart atune. The hard facts of the law that have to be 
learned by themselves, and so learned that the understanding is quick- 
ened into a comprehension that may later be drawn upon before judge 
and jury, have very often discourged a student at the outset and have 
resulted in his turning to a much easier vocation. Therefore it may be 
easily seen that the successful lawyer must possess intellectual qualifica- 
tions, and his logical understanding, his keenness, his tenacity of purpose, 
and his unrivaled powers of application, all being necessary, must be de- 
veloped to their utmost. Arthur R. Folsom, whose position at the St. 
Louis County bar is unquestioned, is a man who has all of these qualities, 
and never ceases to stimulate them by reading and investigation. 

Mr. Folsom was born at Lake Crystal, Minnesota, January 23, 1885, a 
son of Alfred and Mary S. (Rice) Folsom. Alfred Folsom was born in 
New York, April 22, 1845, and comes of an old American family, his 
forefathers having crossed from England to the American Colonies in 
1648. His mother was the granddaughter of Ethan Allen. When he was 
sixteen years old Alfred Folsom enlisted in the Fifty-second New York 
Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the war between the two 
sections of the country. He was wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor 
and was in the hospital as a result for ten months. Returning home he 
became a farmer after the close of the war. His wife was born at 
Potsdam, New York, October 22, 1856, and also came of an old American 
family. They were married in 1879 at Mankato, Minnesota, and became 
the parents of five children, of whom Arthur R. Folsom is the third in 
order of birth. His brother Rufus A. Folsom, who is next younger than 



998 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

he, enlisted for service during the great war, and died of influenza at 
Camp Lewis. 

Arthur R. Folsom attended the grade school at Lake Crystal, and was 
graduated from its high school in 1904. He then entered the University 
of Minnesota, and was graduated from its law school in 1907, and was 
admitted to the Minnesota bar that same year. At school he was inter- 
ested in athletics, and he also belonged to Dillon Chapter of Phi Delta 
Phi, a legal fraternity, and of Gamma Tau, a chapter of Sigma Nu. Fol- 
lowing his admission to the bar Mr. Folsom entered the law office of 
Jaques & Hudson at Duluth, Minnesota, and remained with that firm for 
six months, leaving it to go with J. H. Morton, county attorney, and that 
association was maintained until January, 1909, when Mr. Folsom moved 
10 Hibbing and opened an office of his own, but in June, 1910, left Hibbing 
for Buhl, where he has since remained, building up a large and remuner- 
ative practice. He has been active in local affairs, is a leader in the Re- 
publican party, and has been village attorney for four terms, attorney for 
the township of Great Scott six terms and attorney for the village of 
Kinney four terms. Mr. Folsom belongs to Buhl Lodge No. 1334, B. P. 
O. E., Buhl Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Buhl Lodge, L. O. M. The Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church holds his membership. During the great war he 
was prevented by circumstances over which he had no control from enroll- 
ing in an officers' training camp until the day before the armistice was 
signed. 

On October 7, 1915, Mr. Folsom was married to Miss Martha E. Gil- 
christ, of Lake Crystal, whose ancestors date back to Colonial days in 
the history of this country. She died October 14, 1916, leaving one 
daughter, Martha G., who was born October 11, 1916. On April 16, 1921, 
Mr. Folsom married Hazel K. Bean, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In his 
practice he is guided by intelligence and sustained and unwavering firm- 
ness of purpose, and he carries these qualities into everything he under- 
takes, and for this reason is so often called upon to accept of the respon- 
sibilities of public office. 

Emanuel T. Griese is one of the oldest experts in the service of the 
Oliver Iron Mining Company in the Iron Range district of northern 
Minnesota. For many years he has held the post of chief chemist with 
that company. He is an industrial expert, a highly trained scientist, comes 
of a family of professional people widely known at Cleveland and else- 
where, and is one of the invaluable citizens of Hibbing. 

Mr. Griese was born at Cleveland, Ohio, November 11, 1862, son of 
Charles H. and Marie (Hanson) Griese. Both parents were of Danish 
ancestry, his mother born in Denmark while his father was born in Ger- 
many. Charles H. Griese was born April 24, 1821, and his wife was born 
December 3, 1825. When about twenty years of age Charles H. Griese 
came to the United States and located at Cleveland, Ohio, where he ob- 
tained his naturalization papers. Five years later he returned to Europe 
and completed his education as an architect and builder at Hanover, Ger- 
many. His master work was completed at Copenhagen, Denmark, and he 
then resumed his residence at Cleveland, where for many years his work 
was conspicuous as an architect and builder and his name to this day is 
one of special distinction in that great Ohio city. For two years Charles 
H. Griese was a Union soldier during the Civil war. He died April 29, 
1909, and his widow died on May 24, 1910. Of their nine children eight 
are still living, and they also had two adopted children. 

Emanuel T. Griese, sixth in order of birth, was reared in Cleveland, 
and there and elsewhere acquired a liberal education and training for the 
service he has given in mature years. He graduated from the German 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 999 

Lutheran parochial school at Cleveland, spent four years in the Lutheran 
Seminary at Fort Wayne, Indiana, attended another Lutheran school, 
Northwestern University at Watertown, Wisconsin, two years, and for 
two years pursued special studies in chemistry and pharmacy at the 
University of Michigan. He was a student of chemistry and metallurgy 
for two years in the Ohio State University at Columbus, and then went 
abroad for two years, completing his scientific education in Germany, 
specializing in chemistry and metallurgy in the University of Berlin and 
Freiburg University 

With this well rounded education he returned to the United States and 
rendered his first professional services as a chemist and metallurgist in 
Cleveland. For a time he was chemist for the Iron Mountain Company 
at Iron Mountain, Missouri, then went back to Cleveland, and on August 
1, 1894, was engaged as chemist by the Lake Superior Consolidated at 
Mountain Iron on the Mesaba Range in northern Minnesota. Thus for 
over a quarter of a century he has been connected in a professional 
capacity with the iron ore district of St. Louis County. In 1895 he went 
to Duluth as chief chemist, and in 1903 his headquarters were transferred 
to Hibbing, where for seventeen years he has been chief chemist of the 
local offices of the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 

December 6, 1895, Mr. Griese married Miss Lillie Hooper, of Roches- 
ter, New York. They have two children, Harry T. and Sylvia E. 

Leo C. Mitchell. The possibilities of northern Minnesota as an 
iron production region are being recognized, but there was a time not so 
far distant when these rich ore-bearing sections of the country lay undis- 
turbed and pioneers rushed to other fields, overlooking the wealth which 
lay close at hand. Not much more than a beginning has yet been made, 
for the supply seems inexhaustable, but enough development has taken 
place to change desolate timber tracts into thriving villages and cities and 
to create a wealth of untold millions. One of the families connected with 
the iron producing industry of northern Minnesota from the beginning 
is that bearing the name of Mitchell, and a member of it at Chisholm is 
Leo C. Mitchell, superintendent of the Monroe, Tenner, Chisholm, Clark, 
Glen and Wellington Mines of the Oliver Mining Company, who has 
made his home in St. Louis County for more than a quarter of a century, 
and has borne his part in the wonderful development of the Range 
country. 

Mr. Mitchell has had a wonderful experience. Born at Hancock, 
Michigan, September 9, 1864, he is one of the nine children born to the 
marriage of Penticost J. Mitchell and Janet Robinson. The Mitchell 
family is inseparably and closely interwoven with the history of St. Louis 
County. As a boy Mr. Mitchell attended the public schools at Negaunee, 
Michigan, and when he was fourteen years of age started out to be self- 
supporting, and has continued to depend entirely upon his own efforts 
ever since. His first work was done as a clerk in a store at Negaunee, 
but he later became a helper in a lumber yard, and then worked in a 
sales stable. Before he was sixteen years old he was in the employ of a 
mining company, having in the meanwhile, however, secured some experi- 
ence in a gold mine at Buena Vista, and later at Leadville, Colorado. Still 
later he went down into New Mexico and worked for a development com- 
pany both in mining and lumbering. His mining experience has been in 
copper, silver and gold, and is very complete. Continuing with this same 
development company, he was sent by it into old Mexico and Arizona, and 
was with it for five years. 

Returning to Michigan, Mr. Mitchell went into iron mining operations 
on the Gogebic Range when it was first opened in 1885, and filled various 



1000 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

positions, including those of mechanic, pumpman and master mechanic, 
and learning the business thoroughly. This work pi his covered the Colby 
group of mines, now a part of the holdings of the steel corporation. 
Through the different changes in ownership Mr. Mitchell has since con- 
tinuously worked for this concern. In 1894, after having worked on the 
Gogebic Range from 1888, he was sent to Hibbing, of the Mesaba Range 
of northern Minnesota. He has filled practically every conceivable posi- 
tion up to his present one with his company. Few men know the mining 
game as thoroughly and practically as does Mr. Mitchell, and he has 
learned it in the school of experience and by actual operation. From Hib- 
bing he came to Chisholrn in 1902, and has been here ever since. 

Mr. Mitchell is a Republican, and has been elected on his party ticket 
trustee of Chisholrn, and as such has safeguarded the interests of the 
taxpayers. The Presbyterian Church holds his membership and benefits 
from his donations. His time is fully occupied with his business and 
family, so he has not taken an active part in fraternal or social organ- 
izations. 

In 1887 Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage with Cora Goodwin, of 
Ironwood, Michigan, and they have had eight children born to them, 
namely : Walter D., who died when twenty years of age ; Leona, who is 
Mrs. J. C. Madson; Claude, Chester, Pearl, Irma, Cora and Leo, who 
died in infancy. 

Chester Mitchell is a veteran of the great war, having served in it as 
a member of the Eighty-seventh Division, Three Hundred and Twelfth 
Supply Train. He was sent overseas and saw one year's service in France, 
and received his honorable discharge following his return to the United 
States after the signing of the armistice. Having given his country a 
loyal service as a soldier, he is without doubt going to render it an equally 
valuable assistance as a private citizen, for a Government worth fighting 
for is worth supporting under any and all conditions. Mr. and Mrs. Mit- 
chell have every reason to be proud of their fine family, and the young 
people are reflecting great credit on their parents and the careful and con- 
scientious training they have always received. 

John Allen, proprietor of one of the largest garages and automobile 
repair establishments in Duluth, has spent many years in Minnesota, and 
has achieved his prosperity largely through the difficult role of hard toil. 

Mr. Allen was born at Spring Lake, Michigan, September 5, 1869, 
and grew up with a common school education and with a training that 
fitted him for the active outdoor life. He came to Minnesota in 1892 
and entered the service of the Swan River Logging Company at Swan 
River. He was in the service of that concern continuously for twenty- 
one years. Then for four years he was with the William Carlson Ore 
Company on the Cuyuna Range, most of the time as superintendent of the 
hydraulic department. This is a brief statement of a quarter of a century 
of faithful and earnest toil and service. He then came to Duluth and 
engaged in the automobile business. He has a large stock, with equipment 
and skilled operatives for handling all classes of automobile repairs. 
His garage is one of the largest in the city, being 106x156 feet, and 
with storage space for sixty automobiles. He has a large business in 
handling second hand cars, and keeps a large stock of automobile acces- 
sories. 

Mr. Allen is a Catholic, a member of the Knights of Columbus and 
votes as a Democrat. August 5, 1900, he married, and he and his wife 
have four children: Alice, Mabel, Jane and Nelson J. Allen. Mr. Allen 
owns a fine home at 1409 East Superior street, where he has lived during 
the past fifteen years. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1001 

Samuel W. Lundall has been identified in a business way with 
Chisholm since 1905. He was a merchant in the little village at the time 
of the great fire of 1908, took part in the modern rebuilding and upbuild- 
ing, and has in fact witnessed the changes and transformations that have 
evolved a modern town out of a mining camp. 

Mr. Lundall has effected in his personal destiny changes and develop- 
ments hardly less noteworthy than those of this village. He had few 
opportunities and advantages when a boy, and his resolution and persist- 
ence have been responsible for the more than ordinary success he has 
achieved. His birth occurred on a farm in Washington County, Min- 
nesota, October 24, 1862. His parents, Munse and Dorothy Lundall, 
were natives of Sweden and were pioneers in Minnesota territory, coming 
to this country in 1858, not long after their marriage. The father 
worked as a farmer in Washington County until he was able to acquire 
a farm of his own. The Lundalls were in Minnesota when the entire 
territory had a sparse population, and when the danger of Indian uprising 
had by no means passed. There were evidences of pioneer hardship and 
conflict when Samuel W. Lundall came to years of recollection and 
conscious memory. He was one of four children. He had very limited 
opportunities in such schools as existed at the time, and there was no 
period from early boyhood when he was free from the responsibility of 
work. He was only three years old when his father died, and at the 
age of nine he was working as a dishwasher in a mining camp at Hink- 
ley and subsequently did a great variety of rough and uncongenial work 
in lumber camps and saw mills until he was about seventeen years of age, 
when he began learning upholstering and the furniture business and mat- 
tress making with John S. Bradstreet, one of the pioneer manufacturers 
in that line in the northwest. Mr. Bradstreet's establishment was at 
Minneapolis, and Mr. Lundall was employed there and in other concerns, 
and in a modest way was in business for himself prior to 1905, when 
he came to Chisholm. Here he entered the furniture and undertaking 
business and later opened a stock of general house furnishings, and has 
seen his business steadily grow and prosper. 

A good business man, he has been equally a good citizen, and for 
two years served as trustee of the village. He is a Republican in politics. 
In 1902 Mr. Lundall married Mrs. Anna (Ryder) Rupp. She has one 
son, Edmond Joseph Rupp. 

Albert W. Shaw, M. D. Professionally identified with the Range 
district of northern Minnesota for over twenty years, Dr. Shaw is physi- 
cian and surgeon for practically all the mining companies operating in 
the Buhl district, enjoys a large private practice, and is founder and 
active head of a splendidly equipped and efficient private hospital at Buhl. 
He is a cultured gentleman as well as a high class physician and surgeon, 
possesses a strong sense of civic duty, and also has a keen appreciation 
of the importance of the proper development of the coming generation. 

He was born at Levant, Maine, February 26, 1871, and represents 
old New England stock. His father, William Abbott Shaw, was born at 
Exeter, Maine, January 3, 1825, and devoted his active years chiefly to the 
tilling of the rough and rugged hills of New England. In 1849 he 
joined the flood of gold seekers on the way to California, and altogether 
made three trips to the gold coast. On one of these he walked across 
the Isthmus of Panama. He spent much time in other sections of the 
west. He was in Minnesota at the beginning of the Civil war, and 
in 1862, immediately after the massacre at New Ulm, he drove an ox 
team in company with a party of about four hundred men from St. Cloud 
to the newly discovered mines of the northwest at what is now Helena, 
Montana. He spent his last days at Buhl, Minnesota, where he died 



1002 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

February 19, 1903. At Levant, Maine, he married Miss Julia Ett Cloud- 
Ian, who was born at Garland, Maine, April 8, 1839, and was likewise 
of New England ancestry. 

Third in a family of six children, Albert W. Shaw acquired most of 
his early education at Levant, Maine, but finished the work of the grade 
schools at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his parents lived for seven 
years. Cambridge is the seat of Harvard University, and he graduated 
from a preparatory school there. In 1888, at the age of seventeen, he 
came to Minneapolis, and during the next seven years was engaged in 
the grocery business for himself. In pursuance of a long cherished 
plan he entered the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1895, and 
was graduated in 1899. His proficiency was recognized and for three 
years he held the post of assistant prosector and assistant demonstrator 
of anatomy in the Medical School. Soon after graduating in May, 1899, 
he came to Eveleth, Minnesota, as assistant to Dr. C. W. More, and 
on September 9, 1901, came to Buhl as company physician for the Sharon 
Ore Company and the Drake-Stratton Company. Soon afterward he was 
given the additional duties of local surgeon for the Mesaba and Great 
Northern Railroad, and about that time engaged in a general practice, 
having equipped a small hospital of his own. He is now the senior 
physician and surgeon for all the mining companies around Buhl and as 
a means of handling to better advantage his growing surgical practice 
he built in September, 1918, the handsome hospital, a brick building 
advantageously located, containing thirty-six beds, and with all modern 
facilities, including X-Ray apparatus, diagnostic laboratories and fully 
appointed operating room. The hospital has a staff of four physicians, 
Drs. S. M. Johnson, W. W. Weber, E. C. Smith and G. R. Allaben, and 
has also three trained nurses. Dr. Shaw is a member of the Range 
Medical Society of St. Louis County, the State and American Medical 
Associations and the Association of Railway Surgeons. He has taken 
much interest in local affairs since coming to northern Minnesota, and 
was a member of the township board nine years. He is a Knight Templar 
Mason and Shriner, being affiliated with Hematite Lodge No. 274, A. F. 
and A. M., and has also attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish 
Rite. In politics he is a Republican, and he is a member of the Episcopal 
Church. September 24, 1902, he married Miss Anna Laura Purdy, of 
Logansport, Indiana. She was born January 31, 1877, and represents 
a Revolutionary family and is a member of the D. A. R. To their 
marriage were born three children, Lewis Preston, on December 23, 1904; 
Charlotte Rosamond, on May 10, 1908; and Jean, on January 27, 1916. 

LeRoy Salsich, who has spent much of his adult life on tihe iron 
ranges of northern Minnesota, was born at Hartland in Waukesha County, 
Wisconsin, December 20, 1879, oldest of the five children of Hamilton E. 
and Jane W. (Bourne) Salsich. 

LeRoy Salsich attended the grade schools of his native town, also the 
East and South Side High Schools of Milwaukee, and in 1897 entered the 
University of Wisconsin, where he was graduated with the Bachelor of 
Science degree in 1901. A young man of university training, he came at 
once to northern Minnesota, and for a brief time was in the employ 
of the Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines at Duluth. Since then 
his service has been continuous with the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 
In 1902 he was appointed chief engineer for this corporation for the 
Hibbing district, was transferred to Coleraine in April, 1905, and there 
served as chief engineer, was superintendent of the Holman Mine in 
1906, assistant general superintendent of that district in 1911, and became 
its general superintendent in June, 1913. He was a resident of Coleraine 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1003 

ten years, and during that time took a keen interest in the upbuilding 
of the community. Mr. Salsich came to Hibbing to make his home in 
1918, and since May of that year has been assistant district manager for 
the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 

He is a member of various technical societies, and is a Republican 
in politics. In August, 1904, he married Miss Elisabeth Frazer, of 
Duluth. 

William Marshall Tappan, general superintendent of the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company at Hibbing, first entered the service of this great 
corporation twenty-two years ago as an office man, and with accumulating 
experience and knowledge has qualified himself for some of the higher 
executive responsibilities. 

Mr. Tappan was born in Cleveland, Ohio, October 4, 1875, a son of 
William M. and Adaline (Allen) Tappan. The Tappens were early 
Dutch colonists on Manhattan Island, and the family has furnished 
many people of distinction in American life and affairs. Mr. Tappan 
through his mother is a direct descendant of General Ethan Allen of the 
Revolutionary war. William M. Tappan, Sr., was a civil engineer and 
a ship builder, served as a soldier of the Union army during the Civil 
war and died in Cleveland March 20, 1915, at the age of eighty-seven. 
The mother survived until April 14, 1921. 

William Marshall Tappan was reared in his native city, graduated 
from high school and spent three years in Baldwin University at Berea, 
Ohio. His first experience was in the office of Corrigan, Ives & Com- 
pany at Ramsey, Michigan, one year, following which he was employed 
as an accountant in the offices of the Carnegie Steel Company at 
Pittsburgh for nearly three years, and he spent about three years 
on the Pacific Coast, most of the time in charge of a salmon canning 
factory at Astoria, Oregon. Mr. Tappan returned east in the fall of 
1898, and soon afterward entered the service of the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company at Ironwood, Michigan. Four months later the company trans- 
ferred him to Iron River as office manager, and in the fall of 1903 they 
sent him to Hibbing, where he has had his business headquarters ever 
since. He came to Hibbing as chief clerk in the offices of the corporation, 
in 1905 was promoted to superintendent of the Pillsbury, Glen and Clark 
Mines, in January, 1906, was made superintendent of the Hull-Rust 
Mines, handling the duties of that position for five years, and in 191 1 was 
promoted to assistant general superintendent of the Hibbing district under 
William J. West. Mr. West is now a resident of Virginia, Minnesota, and 
was succeeded as general superintendent of the Hibbing district by 
Mr. Tappan. 

Mr. Tappan, though one of the leading industrial executives of the 
Range country, is an exceptionally modest man, and by his manner seldom 
betrays any of the heavy weight of responsibilities he bears. He is a 
member of the Commercial Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Algonquin Club, 
is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner and in 1914 was worshipful 
master of Mesaba Lodge No. 255, A. F. and A. M., is a member of the 
Episcopal Church and gives his political support to the Republican 
party. 

Mr. Tappan married Miss Gertrude Goss, of Cleveland, Ohio. Their 
three sons are William Hardesty, Warren Marshall and John Goss 
Tappan. 

Charles Baxter came to Duluth nearly thirty years ago, and almost 
from the beginning his name has been familiar in the great lumber indus- 
tries centering in the city. Mr. Baxter is now the active head of the 



1004 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Baxter Sash & Door Company, one of the chief organizations for the 
manufacture of finished products in the city. 

Mr. Baxter was born at Leith, Scotland, January 9, 1865, and has 
achieved independence as a manufacturer and business man after a rather 
humble boyhood and youth. He attained the equivalent of a common 
school education in Scotland, and in 1885, at the age of twenty, came 
to America and for two years lived in Chicago, where he followed his 
trade as a carpenter. From Chicago he moved to Winona, Minnesota, 
worked as a carpenter there two years, and was then at St. Paul, an 
employe of the Bohn Manufacturing Company until 1892. 

On removing to Duluth in 1892 Mr. Baxter was connected with 
one of the great lumber firms of that time, the Scott-Graff Lumber 
Company. In 1900 he withdrew and with P. C. Ouellette established 
a new firm known as the Ouellette-Baxter Company, operating a lumber 
mill for the manufacture of sash and door and interior work. In 1908 
the firm name was changed to the Baxter Sash and Door Company, and 
that is the title at present. 

The first year the business production was valued at about fifty thou- 
sand dollars. Now the aggregate annual volume runs over three hundred 
thousand dollars. The facilities are strictly confined to the manufacture 
of lumber, sash, doors and interior trim, and this material is shipped 
over the states of Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan and as far west as 
Butte, Montana. The factory is equipped with some of the finest and 
most modern machinery for mill work, all the machinery being electrically 
ariven. The factory and warehouses cover about five acres of ground on 
the Northern Pacific & Soo Railroads, and the force of men employed, 
many of them expert workers, numbers about one hundred. 

Mr. Baxter has thus built up a big industry, and that has been his 
chief contribution to Duluth, since he has never cared for the vexations 
and cares of politics. He is an independent voter, is a thirty-second 
degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Modern Woodmen of 
America. He married at Superior, Wisconsin, in 1898, and has two 
children, Marion and Donald. 

Max H. Barber has spent nearly all his life in the mining districts 
of northern Michigan and Minnesota, is a civil engineer by early train- 
ing and profession, but practically ever since leaving university has been 
connected with the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, for which he is now 
district superintendent of the Minnesota properties, with headquarters 
at South Hibbing. 

Mr. Barber was born at Yermontville, Michigan, November 13, 1879, 
son of M. F. and Agnes (Hayden) Barber. His father from 1893 until 
his death in 1901 had charge of the Lake Superior Powder Company's 
business on the Mesaba Range. He died at Virginia. 

The early years of Max H. Barber were spent at Ishpeming, and he 
graduated from high school in 1898. Not long afterward he entered the 
University of Michigan and was in the civil engineering department, 
taking his degree Civil Engineer in 1903. He at once became identified 
with the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, serving in the engineering 
department until 1911, and since then in the operating department. Mr. 
Barber is a member of the American Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 
Society and belongs to a number of technical organizations. He is a 
Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Episcopal Church. January 
2, 1907, he married Dorice H. Wood, of Iron Mountain, Michigan. 

James H. McNivex, for fourteen years a resident of Chisholm, is 
recognized as one of the foremost citizens of the village, and is one 
of those progressive, virile and efficient characters that succeed in any 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1005 

locality and under all circumstances by the very force of a compelling 
personality. Mr. McNiven is a native of Canada, having been born in 
the Province of Ontario December 10, 1879. He is a son of James 
H. and Minerva (Mount) McNiven, farming people of Canada, coming 
of Scotch descent. 

Growing up in his native country, James H. McNiven, the younger, 
attended the country schools and graduated from high school in 1896. 
Later he became a student of the Hamilton Normal School, and after 
he had completed its courses, entered the educational field and for four 
years was engaged in teaching school. Leaving Canada in 1902 for 
the United States, he found employment for his talents as an instructor 
of a commercial course in the Duluth Business University, and remained 
at Duluth, Minnesota, in that capacity for two, years. However, he is 
a man of too much energy and determination to rest content with the 
opportunities offered in the calling of a teacher, and sought another 
opening with the International Harvester Company and for six months 
held the position of credit man for western Canada, with headquarters 
at Regina. 

During the time he had been at Duluth Mr. McNiven had found 
that he preferred the Linked States to Canada for business purposes, 
and so accepted the offer made to him by A. M. Chisholm to enter his 
employ and look after his town site business, and he remained with 
and organized the McNiven Land Company, and is now engaged in con- 
that gentleman until 1916, in 1906 locating permanently at Chisholm. 
In 1916 Mr. McNiven bought Mr. Chisholm's interest in the land business 
ducting the affairs of this flourishing concern. 

When he first came to the United States Mr. McNiven took out 
naturalization papers, and since he became a citizen has been called upon 
to hold various offices. In 1913 and 1914 he was a member of the 
Village Council of Chisholm, and in 1916 was elected to the Lower House 
of the Minnesota State Assembly and served during 1917 and 1918. While 
in the Legislature Mr. McNiven took a very active part in the sessions, 
and some very constructive measures were passed through his support. 
He is a member of the Chisholm Commercial and Kiwanis Clubs. He 
belongs to the Masons and Elks, having attained to the thirty-second 
degree and the Mystic Shrine in the former fraternity. 

On October 25, 1910, Mr. McNiven was united in marriage with 
Miss Effie Van Fleet, of Kilbride, Ontario, and they have one daughter, 
Margaret., Mrs. McNiven is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Mr. McNiven is a man who possess the caliber of brain, 
strength of will and indomitableness of ambition which make anything 
possible. He is a recognized authority on public questions and a close 
student of politics. Probably no better man could have been selected by 
Mr. Chisholm to shape the destiny of the new village, for he possesses 
the grit, vision and really marvelous ability to overcome obstacles, with- 
out which characteristics no one could hope to succeed in such a project. 
The people of Chisholm appreciate the value of the services he has and 
is rendering, and look to him to further represent their interests in affairs 
of public moment. 

George R. Barrett. The first noteworthy mining activities began 
in the Buhl district about twenty years ago, and the most substantial 
period in the history of that town has been during the last twelve years. 
Throughout this period since 1905 George R. Barrett has been located at 
Buhl as assistant inspector of state mines and has been otherwise officially 
and in business prominent in the community. 

Mr. Barrett was born at Medford, Wisconsin, July 19, 1881. His 



1006 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

father, Frederick Barrett, had some pioneer distinctions in northern Min- 
nesota. He was born at Clearfield, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1843, 
and in his youth qualified as a physician and practiced for some years 
in Pennsylvania. Later he lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in 
the latter state was engaged in the newspaper business. He was one of 
the first men to visit the Mesaba Range, and opened the Ohio mine 
at Virginia. In 1873 Dr. Frederick Barrett married Caroline Redmond, 
who was born in New Orleans October 5, 1844. 

Third among their four children, George R. Barrett acquired a com- 
mon school education at Tower, Minnesota, and for a year and a half 
was a student at Wilder, a preparatory school in Southern Minnesota. 
Since then he has had a busy career, largely one of progressive accom- 
plishment and service. For one winter he was employed as timekeeper 
on a railroad, the next summer was general clerk at a lumber camp 
at Crane, Lake Portage, then for seven or eight months was assistant 
to the storehouse keeper of the Minnesota Iron Company at Soudan, 
for one year was shipping clerk and another year underground time- 
keeper, and in 1900 became timekeeper at the Fayal Mine at Eveleth, 
and for three or four months worked as an underground miner in the 
same mine. The following winter he spent setting corner posts at Aurora, 
and during the spring, summer and fall tried selling life insurance. 
Mr. Barrett during the following session of the Legislature was in St. 
Paul as accountant for the Public Accounts and Expenditure Committees 
at the House of Representatives. 

It was in April, 1905, that he came to Buhl as assistant inspector of 
state mines, and in that capacity he has served ever since. His practical 
knowledge of mining and his wide business experience eminently qualify 
him for the duties of his office. He has also done much business in the 
buying and selling of land and is agent for a number of fire insurance 
companies. 

Mr. Barrett was elected and served as a member of the Buhl School 
Board from 1909 to 1912 and again in 1919-20. He was president of the 
village in the years 1911, 1912, 1915 and 1916. Politically he is affiliated 
with the Republicans, is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose at Buhl 
and his church is the Episcopalian. August 26, 1908, he married Miss 
Jessie Cross, of Warren, Minnesota. She is a member of an old American 
family. They have four children: Frederick Cross, George R., Jr., 
and Bess twins, and Jessie Louise. 

Gustave A. Wellner. A resident of Hibbing for twenty-three 
years, Gustave A. Wellner is one of the community's best known citizens 
and business men, and has exerted himself at all times to promote the 
substantial welfare of his community. 

A native of Minnesota, he was born near the historic town of New 
Ulm in Nicollet County December 6, 1873. Simon Wellner, his father, 
was born in Germany, spent his regular term in the German army, but 
chose to rear his own family in a land of liberty free from the influences 
of militarism. In 1854 he came to this country, lived for two years at 
Freeport, Illinois, and then moved to the territory of Minnesota and was 
one of the pioneers in the New Ulm district. He took up a homestead 
and engaged in farming there and lived to the age of eighty-four. He 
was one of the solid and substantial men of the community and for many 
years served as school treasurer. At New Ulm he married Minnie 
Beckmann, who is still living in that vicinity, where all her children, six 
sons and two daughters, were born. 

Gus Wellner grew up on his father's farm, acquired his education 
in the graded schools of New Ulm, and began his individual career in 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1007 

his twentieth year. His first efforts were expended as a farmer, subse- 
quently he worked in railroading service, and for a time clerked in a 
grocery store at St. Peter, Minnesota. When in August, 1897, he came 
to Hibbing he was employed as bookkeeper for the Carlson Mercantile 
Company, and continued that service for this corporation nearly six years. 
About that time the Carlson Exploration Company was organized, and 
Mr. Wellner then became financially interested in that business and as 
secretary and office manager has been identified with the affairs of the 
corporation ever since. He is also a well known banker, being a director 
of long standing in the Merchants and Miners Bank at Hibbing, and 
for several years past has been president of the First National Bank 
at Buhl. 

Mr. Wellner is a Republican, a member of the Lutheran Church and 
is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. August 
17, 1899, he married Adaline Luetjen, of New Ulm, Minnesota. Their 
three children are Alice S., Nevada C. and Norma A. 

Joseph Becks. The history of the Head of the Lakes during the past 
forty years is largely a matter of personal recollection to Joseph Becks, 
who came to the Lake Superior country a friendless lad, endured many 
of the trials and vicissitudes of those who had to depend upon their 
toil for support, but in later years has become one of the best known 
citizens of Duluth, both in business and in public affairs. 

Mr. Becks was born in Finland, where he was reared and educated, 
and at the age of sixteen came alone to the United States in 1881. His 
first location was at Marquette, Michigan, where he found work at 
railroading for about seven months. In 1882 he paid his first visit to 
Duluth, did railroading at Bayfield during the following winter, and in 
the spring of 1883 went to work for Captain McDougall at Duluth,. and 
during the summer trimmed grain, wheat, corn, flax, and also unloaded 
railroad steel for the construction of the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad. 
From the fall of 1883 until the fall of 1884 he was working on the 
Canadian Pacific at Port Arthur, and returned to Duluth just in time to 
get into the ranks of the unemployed during the hard times era. He 
was unemployed for ten months, and then sought opportunities again at 
Port Arthur, where he remained until 1887, part of the time working 
on the Canadian Pacific on the surface road, then in the silver mines 
known as the Silver Mountain, Beaver Mine and Robin Mountain. 

Again in Duluth, Mr. Becks found opportunity for his service in the 
work of opening up Third street, and was also employed in the Woodruff 
Lumber Yard. In the spring of 1888 he entered the service of Scott & 
Holson on Lake avenue, and when that firm was succeeded by the Scott- 
Graff Company in the spring of 1890 he remained with them until 1892. 
During 1893-94 he was employed in a saw mill piling lumber and in 
other duties and also did constructive work at the Ore Docks. This 
eventually became his chief employment, and at varying intervals he 
continued construction work at the ore docks and house building until 
1909. 

For over ten years Mr. Becks has largely devoted his time and best 
efforts to the responsibilities of public office. During 1909-10 he was 
street commissioner of Duluth, was inspector for the water and light 
department in 1911-12, and during the next four years was with the 
Minnesota Steel Company as foreman of construction two and a half 
years and one year as foreman of operation. In the fall of 1916 he was 
elected county commissioner of St. Louis County, and the duties of that 
office have absorbed his time ever since. 



1008 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Becks is affiliated with Euclid Lodge No. 198, A. F. and A. M., 
is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, is a member 
of Lodge No. 168 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also of 
the Encampment, and Excelsior Lodge No. 59 of the Rebekahs. He 
has had all the honors in the Subordinate Lodge and was representative 
to the Grand Lodge of Minnesota Odd Fellows. He is a member of the 
Tall Cedars Order, the Loyal Order of Moose No. 505, Improved Order 
of Red Men, Modern Samaritans, and for fourteen years was secretary 
of the Modern Brotherhood of America. He is also a member of the 
Old Settlers Association, and the West Duluth Commercial Club. Religi- 
ously he is affiliated with the Elim Swedish Lutheran Church. In politics 
he is non-partisan in local affairs, and a Republican in state and national 
elections. 

May 24, 1890, Mr. Becks married Miss Hannah Mattson. Of the 
seven children born to their union only three are now living: Fred A. 
Becks, born at West Duluth September 15, 1892, is a shoe dealer; Hildur 
E. Becks, born August 28, 1894, is a bookkeeper and stenographer; and 
J. Arthur Becks, born May 19, 1899, is learning the machinist's trade 
with the Minnesota Steel Company. 

William L. Galloway has devoted forty years or more of an active 
lifetime to commercial pursuits. He has been a merchant on the Iron 
Ranges of Minnesota for a number of years, and has the leading dry goods 
establishment at Chisholm. 

He was born on Green River in Calhoun County, Kentucky, July 21, 
1860. His father, Samuel Galloway, was a native of Floyd County, Indi- 
ana, and a cooper by trade, though for forty years of his career most of 
his time was devoted to the teaching of vocal music. The Galloways were 
a family of talented and natural musicians, and for many years achieved 
more than local fame in southern Indiana. All of them could sing. At 
picnics, celebrations, festivals and in political campaigns their melody was 
heard and applauded. William L. Galloway was one of nine children, 
and before he had learned to read he appeared with the rest of the family 
and sang alto. Music was one of the strong bonds which cemented the 
affections of this family. Time with its inevitable changes has broken 
the golden links of those associations, but they remain a golden memory to 
the survivors. 

Samuel Galloway married Belinda Smith. They were living in Ken- 
tucky when the Civil war came on. His sympathies were with the north, 
and the Kentucky neighborhood becoming uncongenial he removed to 
Bloomington, Indiana, and later to Terre Haute, where he died. 

William L. Galloway spent most of his boyhood in Terre Haute, at- 
tending graded schools, and acquired his early knowledge of business as 
clerk in a general store at Newport, Indiana. W r hen his employers moved 
the store to Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1884 he went along with it and re- 
mained as clerk. Subsequently he went on the road as traveling represen- 
tative of a wholesale house in St. Joseph, Missouri, covering Kansas and 
what is now the state of Oklahoma, and for six years made his headquar- 
ters at Wichita. He then went back to his old home state of Indiana and 
took a position in a Terre Haute house as clerk at wages of $15 a week, 
but in a few years had been promoted to general manager. 

Mr. Galloway came to Duluth in 1905. For four years he was depart- 
ment buyer for the firm of Panton & W r hite. In 1909 he opened a store 
of his own at Hibbing, and conducted a business there for seven years. 
Then, in April, 1916, he moved to Chisholm, and as a merchant and citi- 
zen has been closely identified with that community. He bore a large share 
of burdens in connection with local war activities. Mr. Galloway was the 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1009 

first man to be examined and was the first charter member of the first 
lodge of the Knights of the Maccabees in Indiana, and he still keeps his 
membership in that order at Terre Haute. He is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. His first wife was Miss Carrie Glanton Cush- 
man. She died in 1906, the mother of two children: Harriet Fae, who 
became the wife of Wilfred Lewis and moved to Wisconsin and died at 
Menasha in that state at the age of twenty-seven; and Mae, who died 
when three years of age. In 1909 Mr. Galloway married Miss Ida 
Wethal. They have three sons: William Leonard, Jr., Richard S. and 
Grant Wesley. 

John Butler, secretary of Butler Brothers, contractors and mine 
operators, is one of the important business men of Buhl, and one of the 
representative citizens of St. Louis County. He was born at Waterford, 
Minnesota, August 20, 1861, a son of Patrick and Mary Ann (Gaffney) 
Butler. Patrick Butler was born in Ireland, March 17, 1823, and was a 
farmer by occupation. When he was twenty-one years old he came to 
the United States, and as soon as possible after his arrival he took out 
his papers of citizenship. His wife was also born in Ireland, her birth 
occurring in 1830. They were married in the United States in 1853, and 
they became the parents of nine children, of whom John Butler is the 
fourth in order of birth. 

Although John Butler received but limited opportunities for attending 
school, he was well taught by his father, who was a well educated man. 
When only nine years old he began to make himself useful on the farm, 
and the lessons of industry and thrift he acquired at an early age have 
never been forgotten. In 1888 he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, and 
with his brothers engaged actively in a contracting business, carrying on 
building and excavating, and executed some very large contracts, among 
which was the Minnesota state capitol building, to obtain the marble for 
which he spent three years at the quarry in Georgia. Another big con- 
tract was the railroad construction work and iron docks at Ashland, 
Minnesota, and a third, the Detroit-Windsor tunnel. During 1901 Mr. 
Butler was engaged at Minneapolis in railroad construction for his firm 
and in 1902 came to the Range, where he has since remained. In 1902 the 
firm of Butler Brothers took contracts for stripping and mining the 
Cypress and Leetonia Mines, completing their contract for the former in 
1907 and latter in 1910. In 1908 they took contracts for stripping and 
mining the Sliver and La Rue properties of the M. A. Hanna Company, 
completing their obligations in 1913. In 1909 Butler Brothers took a 
contract to strip and mine the Grant Mine at Buhl, the property of the 
Jones-Laughlin Company, and completed this in 1914. In 1911 they took 
the contract to strip and mine the Long Year Mine near Hibbing, which 
was owned by the same company, and completed it in 1914. In 1912 
they took the contract for stripping the Dean Mine at Buhl, and the Smith 
Mine near Hibbing, completing the contract of the Dean Mine in 1916 
and of the Smith Mine in 1914. In 1913 they took a contract for partially 
stripping the Wakefield Mine at Wakefield, Michigan, owned by the M. A. 
Hanna Company, and finished this contract in 1914. Another contract 
taken by them in 1913, for the stripping and mining of the Morrow Mine 
near Eveleth, Minnesota, the property of Captain Sellwood, was completed 
in 1914. In 1912 they took a contract for stripping the Bennett Mine, a 
Great Northern property, and completed it in 1917. In 1915 they con- 
tracted to strip and mine the Plymouth Mine near Wakefield, Michigan, 
and completed the contract in 1917, and that same year, 1915, contracted 
to strip and mine Mace Mine Number 2, near Nashwauk, and are still 
working on that contract. In 1920 they took a contract for stripping the 



1010 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

South Judd Mine near Holman, Minnesota, which property is owned by 
the Oliver Mining Company, and they are now working on it. In 1913 
Butler Brothers took a lease on the Ouinn Mine, and operated it as an 
open pit mine. This was their first lease, but since then they have ac- 
quired leases on the Smith, the Lambuton, the North Harrison, the Har- 
rison, the Patrick, the Kevin, the Ann and the Margaret, all of which are 
still producing, except the Ann. They are producers of direct shipping 
ore and ore that has to be treated, and for the latter they have two con- 
centrating plants and one drying plant. All of these mines are mined by 
the open pit method except for small tonnage boardering on the open pits. 

The firm of Butler Brothers is composed of Walter Butler, the pres- 
ident, and John, William, Cooley and Emmett Butler. Their headquarters 
are at St. Paul, Minnesota. These brothers have always been progressive 
and among the first to adopt improved methods. John Butler claims that 
the remarkable success of the firm is due to the efforts of no single mem- 
ber, but to the concerted action of them all, each one having his special 
duties which he performs efficiently and with the idea of working in entire 
harmony with his associates. Another one of the brothers, Pierce Butler, 
is an eminent attorney of St. Paul, and all of them are exceptionally gifted 
in their several lines. 

In 1892 John Butler was married to Margaret McGran, of Belleplaine, 
Minnesota, who is of Irish parentage. They have no children. In relig- 
ion he is a Catholic. During the great war Mr. Butler took part in the 
various drives in behalf of the Liberty Loans, and in every possible way, 
as always, proved his worth as a man and citizen. No history of this 
region would be complete without mention of the activities of this repre- 
sentative firm. Through the energies and dependability of the partners 
some of the most important mines have been stripped and operated, af- 
fording employment for thousands, and releasing for use in different 
industries ore that is so much needed in order to keep abreast of the 
changing times. Their operations are conducted upon a scale that is 
gigantic, and yet the affairs are managed with precision and accuracy 
which insure prompt and accurate compliance to the terms of the contract 
as signed. The name of Butler Brothers has therefore come to stand 
for all that is reliable and efficient in the field in which this firm has held 
so commanding a position for many years, and when an agreement is 
entered into with them the other party to it knows that he need take no 
further thought relative to the work, for he realizes that it will be well 
performed within the stated period. 

Bert M. Conklin. Educated as a mining engineer, Bert M. Conklin 
came to the Minnesota Iron Ranges sixteen years ago, and as technical 
man and operating executive has filled many posts over the district. He 
is now chief engineer of the Arthur Iron Mining Company. This com- 
pany is the operating organization for handling the Great Northern iron 
ore properties on the Mesaba Range. 

Mr. Conklin was born at Wichita, Kansas, November 10, 1881, a son 
of Charles W. and Cornelia (Morse) Conklin. His father served as a 
first lieutenant in the Union army during the Civil war, and for a time 
was on the staff of General Thomas. For many years he lived at Wichita, 
Kansas, and finally went to East Troy, Wisconsin, where he died in 1915. 

Of a family of seven children only three sons are now living, including 
Bert M., who grew to manhood in Wisconsin and attended public schools 
and graduated from the East Division High School of Milwaukee. In 
1901 he entered the University of Wisconsin, and for three years special- 
ized as a student in metallurgy and mining. On leaving the university he 
came to Minnesota in 1904 and his first employment was as a rod man 



/v. 



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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1011 

with the Oliver Iron Mining Company at Hibbing. Successively for about 
a year he was engineer in charge of the Burt-Poole Mine, was engineer in 
charge of the Burt-Poole, Sellers and Morris Mines for some twelve 
months, then became night foreman of the Morris Pit, for about eighteen 
months was night foreman at the Hull-Rust Mine, was day foreman of 
the Rust Pit, and in the spring of 1911 first became identified with the 
Great Northern Iron Ore properties as chief inspector of the Western 
District. In 1913 these iron ore properties were constituted as an inde- 
pendent industry, and at that stage Mr. Conklin was made district super- 
intendent. In 1917 he was made district superintendent of the Interstate 
Iron Company in charge of the Hill Annex and Mississippi Mines, but in 
November, 1917, took charge of the interests of the Great Northern Iron 
Ore properties as chief engineer for the Arthur Iron Mining Company. 

Mr. Conklin is widely known among the mining engineers of northern 
Minnesota, is a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers 
and the Engineers Club of Northern Minnesota. He belongs to the 
Algonquin and Kiwanis Clubs of Hibbing, and is a Scottish Rite Mason. 
September 22, 1906, he married Miss Frances Mae Alees, of Milwaukee. 
Their three children are John Bert, Charles Lewis and Elen Elizabeth. 

Clark Fisk Corey is a practical all around business man, has been a 
resident of Hibbing nearly twenty years, and while his interests have not 
been primarily associated with the great mining industry he has entered 
actively Into the commercial affairs of the village in the real estate and 
general insurance business, which he still carries on. 

Mr. Corey was born at Montpelier, Vermont, March 17, 1872, son of 
Russell A. and Lavinia (Fisk) Corey. His father was a Vermont farmer 
until 1888, when he moved with his family to Nebraska and was engaged 
in milling and later in the lumber business at Elwood, where he died in 
1892. His widow has survived him nearly thirty years and is now living 
in Vermont. 

One of a family of four sons, all of whom are still living, Clark Fisk 
Corey grew up in Montpelier, Vermont, graduated from the high school 
there in 1888 and then accompanied his parents to Nebraska. He gradu- 
ated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1894 with the A. B. 
degree, and as a young college man found his first opportunities in the 
banking business at LaCygne, Kansas, where for six years he was asso- 
ciated with an uncle. Later he was chief clerk in the National Bank of 
Commerce at Kansas City, Missouri, but in 1900 moved to Superior, 
Wisconsin, where he had an interest with his three brothers in the retail 
lumber business. In order to view the industries of the Range country he 
came to northern Minnesota in 1901 and in the same fall located at Hib- 
bing. Here for a time he was employed in looking after the business 
interests of Mr. A. M. Chisholm, and this business association led to his 
meeting in the same fall Miss Winnifred Cummings, sister of Mr. Chis- 
holm. On November 10, 1902, they were married. Mr. Corey has been 
a resident of Hibbing since 1901. During 1902 he was general office man 
for the local branch of Pickands, Mather & Company, but in 1903 
engaged in the real estate and insurance business, and still continues in 
that line, with offices in the First National Bank of Hibbing. Mr. Corey 
is a member of the Algonquin, Commercial and Kiwanis Clubs, is a 
charter member and a past master of Mesaba Lodge No. 255, A. F. and 
A. M., and has attained eighteen degrees in Scottish Rite Masonry. Mr. 
and Mrs. Corey have one son, Clark Fisk, Jr. 

Frank L. Magie. During his service as sheriff of St. Louis County 
Frank L. Magie has handled many important and arduous responsibilities 

Vol. Ill — 6 



1012 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

in a manner creditable to himself and justifying the confidence of that 
majority of citizens who chose him for this position. 

Mr. Magie, who has long been well known in public and business 
affairs at Duluth, was born at Chicago, Illinois, December 23, 1864, a son 
of William and Eunice Magie. His father, a native of New Jersey, went 
to Illinois early in life, for a time was a farmer, and then removed to 
Chicago, where he was in the wholesale broom corn business. He spent 
his last years at Pittsburg, Kansas, and served as a member of the Kan- 
sas Legislature. He was a man of broad information and always enjoyed 
the confidence of the community in which he lived. 

Youngest of eight children, Frank L. Magie acquired his early educa- 
tion in the public schools of Illinois and Kansas, and also attended school 
at New Jersey. While in Kansas he had some experience in the cattle and 
livestock business, and soon after coming to Duluth was appointed deputy 
sheriff, an office he filled for twenty years and thus exercised many of the 
responsibilities which he has today. He first became a candidate for 
sheriff in 1914, being defeated by a small margin. The following four 
years he looked after some varied interests and in 1918 again became a 
candidate and was elected. He has a large circle of friends all over the 
county, though his home for many years has been in the city of Duluth. 

Mr. Magie is a Republican in politics and is a thirty-second degree 
Scottish Rite Mason and an Elk. He married Miss Gaskill, and of the 
four children born to their marriage two sons and one daughter are still 
living. 

Henry Fugere. Of the qualities of constructive citizenship and busi- 
ness energy Henry Fugere has supplied a large share to the community 
of Chisholm practically from the beginning of that village, and has been 
a well known resident of the Range country of northern Minnesota for 
the past twenty-three years. 

Mr. Fugere was born at New Brunswick, Canada, October 26, 1868. 
His father and grandfather were natives of eastern Canada, his grand- 
father born in Xova Scotia of direct French ancestry. Boni Fugere, 
father of the Chisholm business man, was born in New Brunswick and is 
still living in that Province at the age of ninety-two. During his active 
life he followed the trade of ship carpenter. He married Louise La Blanc, 
and in their large family of thirteen children Henry was the fifth. 

Henry Fugere spent his life on a farm in eastern Canada until he was 
nineteen, and had such advantages as were supplied by the common 
schools. On leaving home he went to Ottawa, and the following six 
months worked in the lumber woods about two hundred miles from that 
city. Coming then to the United States, he began an apprenticeship at the 
carpenter's trade at Saginaw, Michigan, remained there two years, then 
for a season or two was a ship's wheelman on the Great Lakes, and lived 
a year at Alpena, Michigan, employed as a carpenter during the summer 
and in the lumber camps in winter. Mr. Fugere came to Duluth in 1892. 
After eighteen months of work as a carpenter in the city he lived for two 
years at Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and in 1897 came to the Ranges, living 
for a year and employed as a carpenter at Hibbing, and then going to 
Eveleth, where he was associated with Al Bergeron in the building and 
contracting business. Mr. Fugere moved to Chisholm in 1901, and with 
that town as his headquarters has been engaged in an extensive business 
as a carpenter and contractor ever since. He was also conducting a lum- 
ber yard, which was destroyed by the conflagration that practically wiped 
out the town in 1908. He was one of the leading volunteer firemen in 
that holocaust. In fact Mr. Fugere has borne a large share of public 
responsibilities at Chisholm ever since coming here. When he arrived on 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1013 

the scene Chisholm consisted of three shacks, and he has literally and 
figuratively been one of the constructive men in the community ever since. 
He took out his first naturalization papers in 1892, and has been a full- 
fledged American citizen since 1902. He is a Republican, has served as a 
justice of the peace, as a member of the School Board, and in 1914 was 
elected president of the village of Chisholm. 

In 1904 he married Miss Annie Moran. Their eight children are 
named Evelyn, Boni, Joy, Cecile, Isabel, Marie, Louis and Dorine. 

George Hubert Alexander from the time he left high school has 
been identified with the lumber industry, at first at Duluth but for a 
number of years at Hibbing, where he organized and is president of the 
Mesaba Lumber and Supply Company. 

Mr. Alexander was born at Oconto, Wisconsin, February 20, 1888, a 
son of William H. and Catharine (Good) Alexander. His parents lived 
for many years at Oconto, where his father was engaged in lumbering, 
but since 1891 they have made their home at Duluth. 

George Hubert Alexander was three years old when he became a resi- 
ident of Duluth, and acquired a grammar and high school education in 
that city, graduating from high school with the class of 1907. Soon 
afterward he was on duty as a timekeeper and scaler for the lumber firm 
of Swallow & Hopkins at Winton, Minnesota. Later he was with the 
Radford & Unight Lumber Company of Duluth, and in 1911 came to 
Hibbing as an employe of the Hibbing Lumber Company. He remained 
with that concern until 1916, when he engaged his own capital and ability 
and the capital of his associates in the organization of the Mesaba Lumber 
Company and has given that business a substantial place among the com- 
mercial institutions of Hibbing. 

Mr. Alexander has shown a public spirited attitude toward everything 
affecting the growth and prosperity of his community. He is a director of 
the Commercial Club, a member of the Kiwanis Club, is a Republican, 
belongs to the Episcopal Church and is affiliated with the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks. January 22, 1913, he married Miss Josephine 
E. Achterkirch, of Faribault, Minnesota. Their two children are William 
Andrew and Elizabeth Ann. 

Barney J. Medalie. Financial independence combined with public 
esteem are worth great effort to right-minded men wherever they may be 
found. To attain these America has offered opportunity, and sons of 
other lands who have come to this country and accepted responsibilities 
together with privileges are numbered with every community's best citi- 
zens. Minnesota has attracted virile men from many countries of the 
earth, and among those from far off Russia attention may be called to 
Barney J. Medalie, who is a solid business man and highly respected citi- 
zen of the prosperous village of Buhl. 

The story of Barney J. Medalie is exceedingly interesting, illustrating 
as it does the determination and resourcefulness of his character and the 
stable elements whereby he has successfully built up a large business and 
• secured the confidence and respect of all with whom he has been associ- 
ated. He was born September 14, 1881, in Lithuania, a Baltic province, 
the second of a family of six children born to Jacob and Bertha (Gluck- 
man) Medalie. Both parents were born in Russia and were of Jewish 
extraction. His mother survives but his father has passed away. The 
latter was a highly educated man, a teacher by profession. 

Barney J. Medalie was carefully educated and had private tutors who 
instructed him in four languages, but by the time he was sixteen years of 
age circumstances had arisen that changed the family prospects and re- 



1014 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

suited in his venturing far from his native province. He sailed to Johan- 
nesburg, British South Africa, arriving there just at the outbreak of the 
Boer war. Refugees were Mocking to Cape Town, and Mr. Medahe 
thought it best to accompany them. There he entered a school in order 
to learn English, his former instruction in languages not including this 
tongue, and was placed in the third grade, where he applied himself so dili- 
gently that within three weeks he was promoted to the fifth grade. Feel- 
ing that he was not making sufficiently rapid headway and with good 
judgment far beyond his years he secured employment in an English res- 
taurant as a waiter, where he remained for seven months, then found a 
position as wine steward in the City Club, in which capacity he served for 
ten months. In 1902 he became a naturalized English subject, immedi- 
ately after which he was given a permit to return to Johannesburg. There 
he remained for two years conducting a candy and drink store, then 
opened a general store eight miles out of the city. After two years he 
left his brother, M. A. Medalie, in charge of that store and returned to 
Lithuania to visit his parents. 

It was while he was in his old home that Mr. Medalie received a letter 
from his Uncle Sapero, who was established in the village of Chisholm, 
Minnesota, urging him to join him in the United States, and this invita- 
tion and encouragement led Mr. Medalie to change his earlier plans and 
come to America. He reached Chisholm, Minnesota, in 1911, and shortly 
afterward opened a candy store at Gilbert, where the waiting station for 
the Mesaba electric road now stands, for which road he was made the 
first agent. He carried on business there for four years, then sold out 
advantageously and went to the eastern seaboard and remained in Phila- 
delphia for ten months. In the meanwhile M. A. Medalie had also come 
to the United States, and he and Mr. Sapero had opened a dry goods 
store at Buhl, Minnesota, and on returning from Pennsylvania Barney J. 
Medalie bought his uncle's interest in this business. In February, 1918, 
the brothers bought a grocery store, then removed their dry goods store 
to the building adjoining the grocery, made other changes and improve- 
ments and now have the largest and leading department store at Buhl. 
They have wide patronage and enjoy the reputation of being thoroughly 
dependable business men. 

On October 3, 1911, Mr. Medalie was married to Sarah Klaff, who 
was born in Russia, of Jewish parentage. She and Mr. Medalie were 
attached friends in Russia, and after feeling himself well established in 
business he sent for her to join him and they married in Delaware. They 
have two children : Vivian Constance, aged six years ; and Ethel Beatrice, 
aged four years. Mr. Medalie and his family are of the Orthodox Jewish 
faith. When he came to the United States he brought a younger brother 
with him and placed him in school at Buhl, and four years later, when the 
youth was through high school, sent him to the University of Minnesota, 
where he was graduated from the dental department and is now in active 
practice at Buhl. Aside from commendable actions of personal nature, 
much praise must be accorded Mr. Medalie for many exhibitions of char- 
ity and benevolence in a general way. During the World war he was 
indefatigable in his efforts to assist all patriotic movements. In 1916 he 
became a naturalized American citizen, and in his political attitudes a Dem- 
ocrat. He belongs to the Hebrew organization of B'nai B'rith. both at 
Hibbing and Chisholm, and is a member and past commander of lodge 
No. 232 of the Odd Fellows at Buhl. 

David Tristram Collins. An important share of the legal business 
originating at Hibbing has been handled by David Tristram Collins, one 
of the older members of the local bar and one of the ablest attorneys in 
St. Louis County. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1015 

Mr. Collins represents an old and prominent American family, tracing 
his ancestry back to Benjamin Collins, who came from England and estab- 
lished a home at Salisbury, Massachusetts, about 1660. Benjamin Collins 
married Martha Eaton. The second generation was represented by John 
Collins, who married Elizabeth Barnard; the third by Benjamin Collins, 
who married Mary Jones; the fourth by Tristram Collins, who married 
Rachel Hunt ; the fifth by Henry Collins, who married Sarah Kelley ; the 
sixth by Tristram Collins, who married Emilia Severance ; the seventh by 
Josiah Norris Collins, who married Frances Jane Kent; while David 
Tristram Collins, the Hibbing lawyer, is of the eighth generation. The 
second Tristram Collins moved west to Wisconsin, was a farmer and car- 
penter and died at Wautoma in 1889. This family has produced many 
individuals in successive generations of honest, law-abiding people, loyal 
Americans, and on the whole each a credit to their community. Some of 
the more notable members of different generations were Governor John 
Collins, of Connecticut ; Gilbert Collins, of the Supreme Court of New 
Jersey ; Loren W. Collins, of the Supreme Bench of Minnesota ; Judge 
Loren C. Collins, of Chicago, and several who became eminent physicians 
and surgeons. 

David Tristram Collins was born at Menasha, Wisconsin, January 6, 
1879, being one of the five children, all living but one, of Josiah N. and 
Frances Jane (Kent) Collins. His father was born in New Hampshire 
and his mother in New York state of English stock. Josiah N. Collins 
was a chair manufacturer in the great wood working city of Menasha, 
Wisconsin, subsequently conducted a hotel at Florence, Wisconsin, for 
two years was in the contracting business at Kaukauna, Wisconsin, and 
in 1887 moved to Gladstone, Michigan, then a village in the woods of the 
Northern Peninsula of Michigan, and continued contracting until his 
death in 1904. 

David Tristram Collins spent his early life in the several towns of 
Wisconsin and Michigan where his father lived, acquired a good educa- 
tion in public schools, and during summer vacations worked as an office 
boy for Daniel Willard, then trainmaster and assistant superintendent of 
the Soo Line Railway. Daniel Willard in subsequent years became one 
of America's foremost railway executives, and is now president of the 
Baltimore & Ohio system. Through the influence of Mr. Willard young 
Collins was led to expend his efforts toward a better education and gradu- 
ally abandoned his first ambitions for a railroading career. In 1899 he 
removed to Minneapolis, where he began reading law with the firm of 
Nye & Deutsch. In 1900 he enrolled in the law school of the University 
of Minnesota, and continued his studies until admitted to the bar in 1903. 
While in the University Law School he had some special opportunities for 
practical training in the law office of Keith, Evans, Thompson & Fair- 
child at Minneapolis, and after admission to the bar continued with that 
firm until September, 1904. Mr. Collins then took up the private practice 
of his profession at East Grank Forks, Minnesota, and remained there five 
years, four and a half years of that time as city attorney. 

In February, 1909, Mr. Collins removed to Hibbing and since the first 
of March of that year has been busily engaged in an extensive practice. 
Much of his time has been devoted to his engagements as an attorney for 
the Oliver Iron Mining Company and other corporations, and he has 
handled many of the real estate deals whereby the village of Hibbing is 
being gradually moved to make way for the mining operations under the 
original village site. 

During the World war he served as food administrator for the Hib- 
bing District and was also one of the Four Minute Men speakers and 
assistant chief of the American Protective League at Hibbing. Governor 



1016 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Burnquist appointed him a member of the Free Legal Aid Board of the 
Hibbing District. He is a Republican in politics, is a Scottish Rite Mason, 
a Shriner was worshipful master in 1920 of Mesaba Lodge No. 255, A. F. 
and A. M., and is also affiliated with the order of Elks. His church 
membership is with the Congregational Society. _ _ 

July 14 1908, Mr. Collins married Jennie M. Myers, of Virginia, 
Minnesota.' At her death, June 9, 1913, she left one son, named James 
Norris Collins. On May 4, 1918, Mr. Collins married Hazel A. Rawson, 
of Portage, Wisconsin. 

W. N. Hart, president of the Kelley Duluth Company, has had forty- 
odd years of experience qualifying him for his present responsibilities. 
His personal experience has taken him through the many details of a 
manufacturer, office and salesman in some of the large wholesale and 
retail houses, as a traveling salesman, and for a number of years past in 
general control of one of the firms that have made the Duluth wholesale 
and retail district known all over the northwest. 

Mr. Hart was born at Green Bay, Wisconsin,' December 31, 1862. His 
father, A. Hart, a native of Connecticut, was a cabinet maker in early life, 
but on going to Green Bay in the early days before the railroad reached 
there, turned his attention to the building and operating of sail and 
steamboats. Youngest of six children, W. N. Hart was educated in the 
public schools of Green Bay, and up to the time of his father's death, 
which occurred in 1881, spent his spare time preparing for a position as a 
lake captain. His father's death changed this, as in order to be with his 
mother, of whom he was then the sole support, he entered the employ of 
a hardware firm at Green Bay owned by a Mr. J. J. St. Louis, where he 
remained for seven years, going from there to the larger concern of W. D. 
Cooke, who operated both wholesale and retail. Here he represented the 
firm on the road a larger part of the following nine years. 

Removing to Chicago, he became a traveling salesman for a prominent 
wholesale hardware house of that city, but in 1897 returned to Green Bay 
and with a salesman from a Milwaukee jobbing house established a whole- 
sale jobbing house in that city which later was re-organized as the pres- 
ent Morley-Murphy Hardware Company. 

In 1904 Mr. Hart came to Duluth as the first salesmanager for the 
Kelley-How-Thomson Company, leaving there in 1909 to take charge of 
the Kelley Hardware Company, now known as the Kelley Duluth Com- 
pany. 

Mr. Hart is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of 
the Commercial Club, the Duluth Boat Club, the Duluth Curling Club and 
for several years has served as a trustee of the Pilgrim Congregational 
Church. Mr. Hart is married and has a family of two sons and two 
daughters. 

Robert Murray. As an organization of capital, equipment and ex- 
pert personnel, Pickands, Mather & Company, while primarily a Cleveland 
concern, is a business organization of national reputation and for many 
years as managers, owners and operators of iron ore properties have been 
vitally identified with the iron ranges of northern Minnesota and Michi- 
gan. The general superintendent of the Central District for this com- 
pany on the Mesaba Range is Robert Murray. Mr. Murray acquired his 
first acquaintance with the Mesaba Range thirty years ago, and is one of 
the practical experts on the staff of Pickands, Mather & Company. 

He was born in Ontonagon County, Michigan, October 18, 1868. His 
father, Robert Murray, was born and reared in Scotland, acquired a prac- 
tical mining experience in his native country, and then came to Canada 



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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1017 

and was employed in the Bruce Mines near Sault Ste. Marie in the Prov- 
ince of Ontario. He married there Mary Mclntyre, also a native of Scot- 
land, and on coming to the United States lived in the copper country of 
Michigan for a time, then on the iron ranges at Negaunee, and worked in 
the old rolling mill at that place. During the winter of 1874-75 he was in 
the copper mines on Isle Royal, Michigan, later in Houghton County, 
Michigan, and became widely known all over the mining districts of that 
state. He died in 1902 and his wife in 1915. 

One of five children, three of whom are still living, Robert Murray, 
Jr., grew up in various communities where the family residence was main- 
tained according to the occupations and the interests of his father. He 
acquired some of his early education at Isle Royal, and graduated from 
the Lake Linden High School at Lake Linden, Michigan, in 1889. It was 
in the spring of 1890 that Mr. Murray first came to the Mesaba Range. 
For a few months he worked on the diamond drill for E. J. Longyear, 
and then with two other companions crossed the Range from St. Louis 
River Station on the Duluth & Iron River Railroad to Grand Rapids. Not 
long afterward he returned to northern Michigan and entered the Michi- 
gan College of Mines at Houghton. He pursued the regular technical 
course in that institution, was graduated in 1895, and then took up his 
professional career as a mining engineer and chemist for the Loretto Iron 
Company at Loretto, Michigan. Subsequently he was mining engineer for 
the Menominee Exploration Company at Crystal Falls, Michigan. The 
Menominee Company was a subsidiary corporation of the Pickands, 
Mather & Company, and thus for over twenty years Mr. Murray has been 
identified with that corporation. In December, 1899, the same company 
sent him to Michipicoten, Canada, as superintendent of exploration and 
diamond drill work. His services for several years required a wide range 
of travel and service at various points in the United States and Canada. 
For a time he was engaged in the exploration of the Dog River mining 
claims in Canada. During 1902 his official duties brought him to the 
Mesaba Range and northern Minnesota, and since 1904 his home and 
headquarters have been at Hibbing. His first duties in this district were 
as superintendent of the Albany and Utica Mines operated by the Crete 
Mining Company, another subsidiary of Pickands, Mather & Company. 
In 1910, when the Scranton Mine was started, general offices were 
located at the latter plant, and about that time Mr. Murray was appointed 
general superintendent of the Central District for the company, in active 
charge of the Scranton Mine. 

Mr. Murray is a member of the Lake Superior Institute of Mining 
Engineers. He is a member of the Algonquin Club of Hibbing, has at- 
tained the eighteenth degree of Scottish Rite Masonry and is a Republican 
voter. June 29, 1903, he married Miss Gertrude E. Buttinger, of Esca- 
naba, Michigan. Their family of seven children are Robert, Helen, 
Clayton, Katherine, John, Ann and James. 

Simon Sapero. The community of Chisholm had hardly begun to 
take form as an adjunct of local mining activities and no village charter 
had yet been granted when Simon Sapero identified himself with the 
locality. He is one of Chisholm's oldest citizens, a veteran merchant, and 
has given the benefit of his wise counsel and leadership in times of pros- 
perity and in times of stress. He was born in Wekschne, Russia, Septem- 
ber 10, 1865, and grew up in his native country, acquiring a public school 
education. By the time he was nineteen he had reached the conclusion 
that Russia offered him no future. He was looking for a country where 
worth might achieve equality with his fellowmen, where he could establish 
a home and rear a family and know that opportunities would not be 



1018 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

denied them in advance. There was only one logical choice to make and 
that was immigration to the United States. 

For about four years after coming to America he lived in Maryland, 
and as a peddler acquired a knowledge of the English language and 
adapted himself to the customs and institutions of the New World. His 
next home was in Chicago, where for about ten years he employed his 
energies chiefly in wholesale houses and laid a sound foundation of 
commercial experience. While there he took out naturalization papers. 

Mr. Sapero came to the Iron Range district of northern Minnesota in 
1900. His first residence was in Virginia, where he entered the furniture 
and hardware business. About a month later occurred a conflagration 
which destroyed the village and his store, stock and other possessions. 
With that misfortune he did not despair, though it was necessary to begin 
all over again. Therefore in 1901, the year that saw the official birth 
of Chisholm, he moved to that town and built the first building on Main 
street. Just seven years later his business property, valued at over twelve 
thousand dollars, was again destroyed in the fire that left hardly a trace 
of Chisholm. But he was one of the first to return and begin the task 
of rebuilding, and both before and since that fire he has been one of 
Chisholm's sturdiest and most resourceful citizens and has not only pros- 
pered as a merchant but has borne his full share of responsibilities in 
connection with community advancement. Besides his dry goods and 
general merchandise establishment at Chisholm he has a branch estab- 
lishment at Thief River Falls and another at Hibbing. Mr. Sapero 
removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in April, 1921, and resides at Oak 
Grove Hotel. He is associated with the Northern State Bank in that 
city, and is now managing the insurance department of this bank, but 
still retains his interests in St. Louis County, Minnesota. 

Mr. Sapero has never sought public office though deeply interested in 
all matters affecting the local welfare. He was active during the World 
war in promoting the sale of Liberty Bonds, Red Cross drives and relief 
work. He was one of the local citizens to start the building of the Jewish 
Synagogue, and for eight years was president of that organization. 
Mr. Sapero is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of 
the Shrine, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is active in the 
Commercial Club. 

In 1888, in Baltimore, Maryland, he married Miss Rosa Rabinowitz. 
Eight children have been born to their marriage : Moses, Abraham, Mary, 
Esther, Sol, Molly, Hazel and Harlan. Mary is the wife of J. E. Brill, 
a well known Minneapolis attorney. The daughter Esther is the wife 
of Max Wain, of Chisholm. The son Sol was a student in the University 
of Minnesota during the war and trained with the colors as a member 
of the Student Army Training Corps. 

William C. Northey. Among the men who occupy high and promi- 
nent positions in the Iron Range district in northern Minnesota is William 
C. Northey, superintendent of the Mahoning Mine of the Mahoning Ore 
and Steel Company at Hibbing. Mr. Northey has been a practical mining 
man for many years, grew up in the industry, and has been a resident 
of northern Minnesota for over twenty years. 

He was born at Rockland, Michigan, June 23, 1862, son of William 
and Isabella (MacKee) Northey, of English and Scotch ancestry. His 
father was for many years engaged in the mining industry both in the 
United States and in Canada. In a family of eight children six are still 
living. 

William C. Northey at the age of five years accompanied his parents 
to Cableton, Quebec, Canada, later to Kingstown, Ontario, where he 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1019 

attended his first school, and then to Crown Point, New York, where 
he lived for twenty years and where he completed his education in the 
public schools. 

At the age of sixteen Mr. Northey went to work in the iron mines 
of the Crown Point Iron Company and later with the Witherbee-Sherman 
Company at Mineville, New York, and elsewhere, and during the next 
fifteen or twenty years gained practically every experience in the equip- 
ment of a full fledged mining man. He came to the Range country of 
northern Minnesota in 1898, and was first employed as chief clerk of the 
Oliver Iron Mining Company at Mountain Iron. A year later as superin- 
tendent for the American Steel and Wire Company he opened the Soun- 
try-Alpena Mine at Virginia, but in 1900 was transferred to Hibbing 
and as superintendent of the same corporation opened the Clark and 
Chisholm Mines. Following that he temporarily abandoned the mining 
industry and from 1902 to 1906 was engaged in merchandising at Hibbing. 
In 1906 he became chief clerk for the Mahoning Ore & Steel Company, 
and has been steadily in the service of that corporation for fifteen years, 
and since January 1, 1918, its superintendent at Hibbing. 

Mr. Northey has made his influence felt as a citizen in several localities 
where he has lived. He was particularly identified with the early develop- 
ment of Chisholm, and upon the organization of the village government 
was honored by election as the first president of the village. He is a 
Republican in politics, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is a 
Scottish Rite Mason. 

On July 26, 1883, Mr. Northey married Miss Carolyn Moore, of 
Ogdensburg, New York. Five children were born to their marriage: 
F.thel, wife of Rollin N. Dow, of Minneapolis ; Marguerite, who died in 
infancy ; Melvin T., who had a record of service with the navy during 
the World war; William C, Jr., who died at the age of seven months; 
and Thornton M. 

Odin A. Sundness, chief chemist for the Shenango Furnace Com- 
pany, is a young man with all the requisite qualifications for filling an 
important and responsible position, and a citizen of standing in his com- 
munity. He was born at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, January 12, 1888, a 
son of Nicholas E. and Sophia (Sehm) Sundness. Nicholas E. Sundness 
was a native of Norway, where he was reared and educated, and from 
which he immigrated in the later 70s to the United States. After his 
arrival in this country he took out naturalization papers, and resided here 
the remainder of his life, making Minnesota his home and going from 
Minneapolis to Fergus Falls after a year's residence in the former city. 

Reared at Fergus Falls, Odin A. Sundness was graduated from its 
high school course in 1906, and then entered the School of Mines of the 
University of Minnesota and there spent three years. Portions of the 
years 1907 and 1908 were spent in the mines of Montana and Idaho, 
where he obtained a practical knowledge of underground mining. In the 
spring of 1909 he came to the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota and 
secured a position with the Oliver Iron Mining Company at Eveleth as 
mining engineer, which position he held for two years, when he severed 
his connection with the Oliver Iron Mining Company and accepted a 
position as mining engineer of the Whiteside Mine at Buhl for the Shen- 
ango Furnace Company. In the fall of that same year, he was trans- 
ferred to the Shenango Mine at Chisholm, where he continued work as 
a mining engineer until July, 1912, at which time he was made chief 
chemist in charge of the laboratory, grading department, and all ore ship- 
ments, and is still holding this position. In addition to this he was made 
chief engineer of this company October 1, 1920. Mr. Sundness is a 



1020 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

member of the Engineers Club of Northern Minnesota, and the American 
Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. He is a Mason and 
a member of the Kiwanis Club of Chisholm. His political convictions 
make him a Republican. The Lutheran Church has in him a faithful 
member. 

On September 15, 1915, Mr. Sundness was united in marriage with 
Miss Olive Strand, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and they have one daugh- 
ter, Margaret Josephine. While Mr. Sundness has been too much occupied 
with his business cares to think of entering the public arena, he takes 
an intelligent interest in civic matters and is deeply interested in the 
remarkable expansion of this region, and proud of the fact that he has 
been associated with this development. 

Archie McDougall has one of the oldest plumbing businesses in 
northern Minnesota, and for over thirty years has followed that trade 
and profession and has installed a large share of the plumbing, steam 
and hot water heating plants in Duluth homes and business buildings. 

He was born in Ontario, Canada, a son of Duncan McDougall. His 
father was a building contractor, and for thirteen years followed his busi- 
ness in North Dakota. Later he was in the same business in Duluth until 
1891, and in that year removed to Chicago, where he remained until his 
death in 1908. 

The fourth child of a family of ten children, Archie McDougall was 
educated in Canada and Duluth, he having come to this city in 1882. 
At the age of thirteen was working in a sawmill. He also worked on 
farms, and in 1888 engaged in the plumbing business at Duluth, a line 
he has followed ever since. His shop and offices are at 4033^ East 
Superior street. Previous to his entering the plumbing business he was 
employed by C. F. Johnson in the stationery business. 

Mr. McDougall is affiliated with the Clan Stewart of the Scottish 
Clans, and is a Knight of Pythias and Elk. On August 15, 1894, he 
married Miss M. D. Curtis* 

Mr. Archie McDougall always took a deep interest in baseball, he 
having organized the first uniformed baseball club in Duluth, in 1886, 
the team playing clubs from nearby cities and towns, in which great 
rivalry existed. The club which Mr. McDougall organized was called 
The Zenith City Baseball Club. It was a wonderful success from a play- 
ing standpoint. The team was composed of the following players 
Hector McDougall, first base; Eddie Connelly, second base; Archie 
McDougall, short stop and captain; Will Hall, third base; Frank Hall, 
right field; Dan McDougall, center field; Frank Drake, left field; Charles 
Mallison, pitcher; and Jack Neff, catcher. George Hughes, William 
McGowan and Frank Nathan were reserves. Mr. McDougall is a member 
of the Old Settlers Association. 

Eli S. Woolfan went to Hibbing less than a decade after the original 
townsite was surveyed, and has been continuously in business there as a 
dry goods merchant for seventeen years, and therefore one of the pioneers 
in the commercial history of the community. 

Mr. Woolfan, whose name has always been associated with public 
spirited citizenship, was born in Russia September 15, 1864, son of Wil- 
liam and Mary Woolfan. While he had no opportunity to get the equiv- 
alent of an American college education, his training was unusually good 
and thorough in the old country. At the age of eleven he left home to 
attend school at Vilna, where he studied Hebrew, Russian, German and 
Polish languages. During his fifteenth year he went to England, and 
while working acquired a knowledge of the English tongue. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1021 

He was about seventeen when he crossed the Atlantic to Canada, 
and for the first year made his home at Montreal. He peddled goods 
in and out of that city, and from his earnings assisted his parents and 
brothers and sisters to leave Russia and come to Canada. Mr. Woolfan 
about 1882 removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and during his residence 
of five years in that city acquired his papers as a naturalized American. 
He was in the peddling business at Pittsburgh, and on leaving that city 
spent five years at St. Paul, at first continuing as a peddler, later as a 
tailor, and eventually had a disastrous financial experience in the wood 
and coal business. Leaving St. Paul, he was a resident of Superior, 
Wisconsin, for about twelve years, and conducted a tailoring and haber- 
dashery enterprise. Mr. Woolfan came to Hibbing in the fall of 1902, 
but was unable to procure a building and open a stock of dry goods until 
February, 1903. His store has been a growing center of trade, and besides 
his work as a merchant he has had much to do with the ownership and 
development of local real estate. Among other properties he owns four 
hundred acres in St. Louis County and is one of the owners of the Mesaba 
Addition to Hibbing. This addition is advantageously situated with refer- 
ence to the progressive movement of the village to the south to make 
way for mining operations. 

Mr. Woofan's life has been one of many adversities, but through all 
his courage has never wavered and by persistence he has achieved fully 
the substance of prosperity. At Superior he lost his first wife, whose 
maiden name was Bessie Bloom. She was survived by five children. 
The maiden name of his present wife was Etta Ziskin. Mr. Woolfan 
has proved himself an American in every sense of the word, and so far 
as his ability permitted has contributed to the institutions and the move- 
ments for the betterment of the community. In 1902 he was a delegate 
to the state convention in Wisconsin. For three years he served as a 
member of the Hibbing Board of Health and is now a justice of the 
peace. He is a Republican, is a past chancellor commander of the Knights 
of Pythias, a member of the B'nai B'rith, and at St. Paul, Superior 
and Hibbing helped build churches of his faith. He is now president 
of the Jewish congregation at Hibbing and also president of the local 
Zionist movement. Mr. Woolfan's children are N. P. ; Belle, wife of 
Samuel Siegel ; Abe B. ; Fay, wife of H. L. Nides ; and Emanuel B. 
Emanuel B. Woolfan was the first of the Jewish boys to enlist from 
Hibbing, serving in the Medical Corps, though his time was all spent 
in local camps on this side of the ocean. He is a graduate of Rush 
Medical College of Chicago. 

Bror Magnusson. It is a revelation of the possibilities of American 
life and of individual ambition and enterprise to contrast briefly the begin- 
ning and the present status of Bror Magnusson's career in this country. 
He arrived here and did his first work in the east as a coachman and 
gardener, nearly thirty years ago identified himself with northern Minne- 
sota, still in a humble capacity as an employe, but his capabilities have 
expanded with his opportunities and there is probably not a better known 
business man in the Chisholm district than Bror Magnusson, who is 
occupied with extensive farming interests and is also president of the 
Chisholm State Bank. 

Mr. Magnusson was born February 4, 1867, on his father's farm 
about two miles from Jonkoping, State of Smoland, Sweden. His father, 
A. J. Magnusson, was born January 1, 1832, at Werstergotland, Sweden, 
and lived in that vicinity all his life, until his death in 1907. Farming 
and lumbering occupied his time and energies up to the last ten years, 
during which period he was a commission merchant. About 1856 he 



1022 DULUTH AXD ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

married Miss Christian Charlotte Stomberg, of the same section of 
Sweden. She was born February 13, 1836, and died in 1909. 

Sixth among eleven children Bror Magnusson acquired a common 
school education and spent four years in the high school at Jonkoping. 
At the same time he was performing a share in the duties on his father's 
farm, and so continued for two years after leaving school, until he was 
eighteen. At that date he sailed to Quebec and from Quebec went directly 
to Boston, where he spent two years earning a living and acquiring a 
knowledge of American language and ways as gardener and coachman 
for a private family. Even more extended opportunities were offered him 
during the next two years when he was a street car conductor. On 
March 29, 1891, Mr. Magnusson left the east for Ely, Minnesota, for the 
purpose of joining and assisting his brother-in-law, then cashier of the 
bank at Ely. Soon afterward he served a year as clerk in the hardware 
store of P. R. Vail, and following that for about a year was grocery 
clerk with the firm of Anderson and Korb. The panic of 1893 proved a 
depressing influence over all this section, and Mr. Magnusson in the 
interval returned to Boston and for three years worked in a vinegar fac- 
tory. Then, in 1896, he returned to northern Minnesota and for two 
years was again in the employ of Anderson & Korb, following which he 
formed a partnership with Globokar & Pehlgren in the retail grocery 
business at Ely. This establishment was sold in 1902, and at that date 
Mr. Magnusson identified himself with Chisholm, resuming the retail 
grocery business. For two years he had an establishment on Lake street, 
and in the meantime invested some of his accumulations in vacant prop- 
erty at the corner of Lake and Second avenue, on which he erected a 
store building. This was in the path of the devouring flames in the 
great fire of September, 1908. Soon after the fire he rebuilt on the site 
a fine building, which at the time was one of only two such structures 
in the town. This building he leased to the firm of Lundall & Sons 
for five years, and in the meantime he entered the feed and grain busi- 
ness, which he continued for three years. He had also acquired a farm 
in Balkan township, and improved it with buildings and other facilities, 
cleared up the land and put it in cultivation, and after three years as a feed 
and grain merchant was prepared to give his entire attention to farming. 

Mr. Magnusson has been a banker at Chisholm for the past six years. 
He organized in December. 1914, and became president of the Chisholm 
State Bank, which opened its doors February 15, 1915. He is still the 
executive officer of this substantial institution, which has played a notable 
part in the financial life of Chisholm since it was founded. In the fall 
of 1915 Mr. Magnusson resumed business as a grocery merchant, but sold 
bis store in February, 1920, and now divides his time between his farm 
and the bank. 

Mr. Magnusson acquired naturalization as an American citizen in 
1897, and is thoroughly American in fact as well as in name. Politically 
he supports the Democratic party and is a member of the Lutheran 
Church. In November, 1901, he married Miss Ellen K. Lalin, who was 
born February 10, 1876, at Uleaborg, Finland. Their five children are 
Magnus, Lellia, Elaine, Arthur and Arline. 

William Munro. In the quiet relation of the leading activities of 
an eventful life of more than seventy years there is so much to interest 
that visitors are apt to linger along under the hospitable roof of William 
Munro, one of Chisholm's well known capitalists and retired business 
men. For many years he was a prominent figure in mining circles 
throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming and Nevada, and in some 
mineral sections was one of the pioneers. In public life he is also well 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1023 

known, long having been a man of influence in relation to national politics 
and the leading questions of the day. 

William Munro was born July 25, 1844, seven miles from London, 
Ontario, Canada. His parents were Neil and Flora (Hair) Munro, 
the former of whom was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, October 1, 1818, 
and the latter in 1822. Both emigrated to Canada about 1830 and were 
married there in 1839. They had nine children, William being the third 
in order of birth. The father was engaged in farming in Ontario until 
1848, when he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he continued 
to farm until 1852, moving then to Grand Haven, where he engaged in 
the lumber business until retiring, his death occurring in 1884. The 
mother of Mr. Munro died in 1890. 

William Munro had school privileges both at Grand Rapids and Grand 
Haven, but from the age of twelve years largely provided for his own 
support. His first job was packing shingles in a sawmill, gradually 
taking on other responsibilities, and by the time he was twenty-one years 
old was thoroughly familiar with sawmill operations. In 1865, in asso- 
ciation with a brother, he built a mill seven miles distant from Green Bay, 
Wisconsin, which they conducted for ten years, in the meanwhile acquir- 
ing other interests, dealing in real estate and operating a hotel and a 
general store and additionally had a lease on an iron mine at Ishpeming, 
Michigan. They had every reason to be satisfied with their prospects 
until the financial panic of 1873 struck the country, and notwithstanding 
their strenuous efforts during the next five years of business stringency 
they lost all their possessions. 

In 1880 Mr. Munro went to work as superintendent of a sawmill at 
Ogontz Bay, later at Laney and still later at Barronett, Wisconsin, remain- 
ing at the last named point for two years. From there he went to Drum- 
mond, Wisconsin, where he took a shingle contract for the summer and 
later took similar contracts at Eau Claire and Haywood. In 1886 Mr. 
Munro was called to Superior to become superintendent of a sawmill, and 
resided at Superior for five years, during this time becoming active in civic 
affairs and interested in realty. 

It was about this time that Mr. Munro went into partnership with 
Frank Hibbing, who had been his valued employe at Green Bay, and they 
started work in the Garden Lake Iron mine near Ely, Minnesota, but 
the venture did not succeed. In 1902, with Mr. Hibbing and eight other 
men, he obtained possession of some land which is the present site of 
the village of Hibbing and formed an organization known as the Lake 
Superior Iron Mining Company. This was a large enterprise and took 
time to develop. When other members of the company dispaired of find- 
ing workable ore on the tract it was through Mr. Munro's faith and 
perseverance that its presence was finally demonstrated, and furthermore 
he insisted that there was iron also at a certain point not far distant 
from where the company was operating. Although Mr. Hibbing did 
not share in Mr. Munro's opinion, he was induced to go with him and 
make the test which resulted in the discovery of the famous Hull Mine. 
The company was forced by public financial stringency to sell their inter- 
est to the Rockefeller people, Mr. Munro receiving the sum of $20,000 
for his one-tenth interest, which today would probably be worth 
$5,000,000. 

Following the closing out of this venture Mr. Munro served one year 
as purchasing agent for the Webster Manufacturing Company of Supe- 
rior. He then returned to the Range and drilled unsuccessfully for ore 
on the present site of Nashwauk. He spent six weeks there, and during 
this time presided as chairman at the organization of the village. From 
there he went to where the village of old Mesaba stands as a prospector 



1024 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

for the Niagara Mining Company, but after eight weeks the company 
allowed their lease to lapse and Mr. Munro took it, and with D. M. Filben 
made an agreement with Mr. Hill, who was financing the experiment, to 
receive a two-third interest. He operated the mine for eighteen months 
and then sold his interest to Mr. Hill. He then went to Wyoming and 
from there to Goldfield, Nevada, arriving there October 1, 1908. He 
prospected for gold and silver and with his son, the late Colin Munro, 
and two other men took up six claims, all of which they worked. Finding, 
however, that this hard life was dangerously affecting his eyesight, Mr. 
Munro decided to give up mining and accompanied by his son Colin 
came to Chisholm, where he has been established ever since. With the 
assistance of his son Archie he takes care of his investments, including 
those left him by his son Colin A., who died December 24, 1919. 

Mr. Munro was married at Green Bay October 1, 1867, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Athey, who was born in Brown County, Wisconsin, of an old 
American family, and the following children were born to them : Colin 
A., who was a young man widely known and greatly respected and active 
both in business and politics ; William R. ; Charles Neil, who died of 
an illness contracted during the Spanish-American war, in which he was 
a soldier ; Archie R. ; Wallace M. ; and Flora J., who is deceased. 

During the greater part of his life Mr. Munro has been recognized 
by his fellow citizens as a leader, his energy and vigor, his foresight and 
good judgment impressing every community in which he lived for any 
length of time. He was a member of the first Village Council of Superior 
and also of the first City Council, of which he was president one year. 
He was treasurer of the School Board for two years, being the only 
incumbent of that office that ever served without giving bond. In 1904 
he was the candidate of the Populist party for Congress and although 
defeated made an excellent showing because of his personal popularity. 
He has been a student of political questions for many years and in 1896 
stumped his congressional district in the interest of Hon. William J. 
Bryan. At present he maintains an independent attitude but is keenly 
alive to the great questions of the day. Mr. Munro has long been identi- 
fied with the order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

Gonzague L. Thouin. A pioneer of the early nineties in the North- 
ern Range District of Minnesota, Gonzague L. Thouin is one of Hibbing's 
best known and most public spirited citizens, and has had a range of 
experience that covers nearly every phase of the industrial and commercial 
development of this region. 

Mr. Thouin is of French Canadian ancestry, was born in Canada 
December 25, 1877, and his parents, Solomon and Elodie Thouin, were 
natives of the same country. From Canada the family moved to the 
Upper Peninsula of Michigan about 1879, living first on the site of 
Marquette and later moving to Crystal Falls. At Crystal Falls Solomon 
Thouin conducted a hotel until his death. 

Gonzague L. Thouin was next to the youngest in a large family of 
thirteen children, seven of whom are still living. He acquired a public 
school education and at sixteen was earning his own living as clerk in 
a store. Not long afterward, in 1893, he came to the Mesaba Range in 
Northern Minnesota, his first home being at Virginia. Early in 1894 he 
began as a stripper for the contracting firm of Drake & Stratton, his 
first employment being as a brakeman on a stripping or dinky engine, 
then as fireman on a steam shovel, as craneman and finally engineer. He 
remained with Drake & Stratton in these various grades of responsibilities 
until 1907, and during that time helped strip the Biwabik, Stevenson. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1025 

Morris and Kenney Mines. Since 1909 Mr. Thouin has had his home 
at Hibbing. For two years after leaving Drake & Stratton he was 
steam shovel engineer for the Stevenson Iron Mining Company, but 
on coming to Hibbing he left mining and engaged in the retail hardware 
business, and for ten years has been one of the chief merchants of the 
village. 

A successful business man, he has applied his experience and abilities 
to the service of his community. For three years he was on the Water 
and Light Board of the village and was one of the men instrumental in 
the erection of the present splendid municipal power plant. The power 
plant was first put in operation while he was president of the board. Mr. 
Thouin is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are active members 
of the Catholic Church. April 24, 1908, he married Belle C. Tobin, of 
Florence, Wisconsin. The eight children born into their home are Lucile, 
Isabelle, James, Louise, Winnifred, Marjorie, Lawrence and Joseph. 

John F. Killorin. One of the trail-blazers of St. Louis County, 
John F. Killorin, of Duluth, is today the personification of a life well 
lived, of energies well directed, of a mind tuned to the harmony of his 
surroundings and of a heart which has lost nothing of its warmth and 
sympathy in its journey from the hardships of pioneer days to the 
affluence of the twentieth century. This vigorous personality, outlined 
against the background of the lumber industry since the early days, com- 
mands the confidence and respect of as large a following as any 
who have helped to redeem the wilderness of this part of the state. He 
has built up character as well as fortune, and has supported the substantial 
and fundamental processes of civilization. 

Mr. Killorin was born July 4, 1850, in Canada. His parents, Thomas 
and Mary (Gallagher) Killorin, were born in Ireland and married in 
Canada, to which country they came when young, and there rounded out 
useful and honorable careers. John F. Killorin received his early educa- 
tion in the country schools of Richmond, Ontario, and his boyhood train- 
ing was all on the home farm. To the ambitious youth this was not 
satisfactory, and his idea and bent was to get out in the great world 
and build for himself. Accordingly, in 1868 he came to the United 
States, thinking to better his condition, and at Saginaw, Michigan, 
became a common laborer at lumbering. He continued working in the 
different branches of lumbering in Michigan and Minnesota until 1906. 
During this time he also helped to build a logging road in Michigan for 
the A. W. Wright Lumber Company. In 1892 he came to St. Louis 
County, Minnesota, and for the same company helped build the Swan 
River Logging Road from Mississippi to Hibbing, this being the first 
road to the latter point. Mr. Killorin helped to operate this road until 
1906, when he came permanently to reside at Duluth, which had been 
his home on occasion before that time. In 1899 the Swan River Road 
was sold to James J. Hill, Mr. Killorin continuing under the new owner- 
ship until his final removal to Duluth. In the meantime he had acquired 
interests in timbering with the same connection that originally had brought 
him to Minnesota, and this interest he has maintained to the present. 
He is identified with banking and mining, with the Kelley-How-Thomson 
Company, wholesale hardware dealers, and other important matters. 
Mr. Killorin has been one of the live men in the development of the 
institutions and interests of St. Louis County. He is a member of the 
Kitchi Gammi Club, Country Club, Curling Club and Commercial Club. 
In religious faith he is a Roman Catholic. His political belief is that of 
the Republican party, but his business interests have prevented him from 



1026 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

entering actively into public life. He has been a supporter of all worthy 
movements, educational, religious, charitable and civic. 

In 1880 Mr. Killorin married Miss Carrie Wright, who died in 1894. 
In 1898 he married Miss Mary McHugh, and they have three children: 
John F., Bernard and Elizabeth. Mr. Killorin has always taken a deep 
interest in boating, Messrs. Killorin and Smith winning the champion- 
ship of the world in the paired oared contest that took place during the 
Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. They also took first 
prize in Saratoga that same year and in 1877 defeated all comers in 
Detroit. Mr. Killorin takes great pride in his various tokens of victory, 
his prizes being very beautiful and worthy of the great victories won. 

Lewis Hoff Minor when a young man overcame some unusual diffi- 
culties in getting the education he desired and in preparing himself 
for a career of usefulness, but since then has achieved a well deserved 
success, is a self-made man, and one of the well known business men 
of the Iron Range district, being manager of the Dower Lumber Com- 
pany at Chisholm. 

His grandfather was a Union soldier during the Civil war, and after 
serving faithfully during most of the struggle died of disease before 
the close of hostilities. Lewis Hoff Minor was born on his father's 
rented farm near South English, Iowa, September 12, 1873, son of 
Jehial and Julia Minor. His early environment was a farm and as 
soon as he was old enough his time and services were required in assist- 
ing his father. He obtained a country school education and later was 
able to pay his way during two years of attendance as a student at 
Valparaiso University in Indiana. 

Following his college education he worked in a saw mill at Rock Island, 
Illinois, for one year, then returned to his home near Tipton, Iowa, and 
worked on the railroad as a section hand and one year on the farm, and 
through the influence of his employer was enticed to go to Wadena, Min- 
nesota. This same employer secured for him 120 acres of land, and 
having no money this employer secured the entire amount, which was 
to be paid on the annual payment plan. Mr. Minor left Tipton, Iowa, 
in August, 1898, with fifteen dollars in money and rode to Wadena, 
Minnesota, on a bicycle, covering the six hundred miles in seven days. 
Not being financially able to return to Tipton in the fall, he entered 
the woods for the winter as a lumber jack, with no experience whatever, 
and gained knowledge that has been of inestimable value to him during 
his many years in the lumber business. He came out of the woods the 
following April to help erect some buildings on other lands purchased 
by his employer, and two months later entered the employ of the Dower 
Lumber Company at Verndale, Minnesota, a small village near Wadena, 
as yard man, and served in this capacity for two years. 

Sixteen months after his first experience as a land owner Mr. Minor 
sold the farm for one thousand dollars cash, more than the original pur- 
chase price., That transaction stimulated and encouraged him to 
handle real estate on the side, and since then he has made many success- 
ful real estate turnovers. 

After two years as a yard man for the Dower Lumber Company at 
Verndale he was then promoted to the position of yard manager and 
transferred to New York Mills, Minnesota, where he remained for eight 
years. At this place he was obliged to learn the Finnish language, as 
the settlers were practically all Finnish speaking people, and this knowl- 
edge has been a very valuable asset in business since that time. 

On September 5, 1908, a great forest fire swept northern Minnesota, 
and Chisholm was one of the northern towns that was entirely wiped 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1027 

out by this fire. On October 1st, following, Mr. Minor was transferred 
to Chisholm, where a new lumber yard was opened by the Dower Lumber 
Company, and he assisted in rebuilding the village of ten thousand 
inhabitants. 

Mr. Minor has been with this one company for twenty-one years. 
In appreciation of his faithful and able services the company at the 
end of his twentieth year presented him with a thousand dollar stock 
certificate and a life insurance policy for a thousand dollars for as 
long as he is with them. 

A short time after he entered the service of the Dower Lumber 
Company Mr. Minor married, on April 4, 1900, Miss Alberta Towne, 
of Verndale, Minnesota. Their only child is Harold Douglas, born in 
1909. While he was living at New York Mills Mr. Minor served as 
village trustee. He has always been keenly interested in politics, and 
as a boy made choice of his allegiance with the Republican party, though 
his father was a Democrat. Before he was old enough to vote he took 
an active part in the Harrison-Cleveland campaign, so much so that his 
father was accured by his friends of being disloyal to the Democrats. 
Mr. Minor served one year as a member of the Chisholm Board of 
Health, and was the first secretary of Hematite Lodge No. 274, Ancient 
Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of Lematite Lodge No. 9 
in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

Albert St. Vincent. In the mining activities that comprise such 
a large and important chapter in the industrial history of St. Louis 
County members of the St. Vincent family have performed a useful and 
frequently conspicuous part for many years. Albert St. Vincent of this 
family is a prominent mining engineer, and as one of the operating 
officials of the Oliver Iron Mining Company is the present assistant 
superintendent of the Hull-Rust, Kerr, Sweeney and Carson Lake 
Mines. 

Mr. St. Vincent was born at Quinnesec, Michigan, December 30, 
1881. His father, Frank St. Vincent, was of French ancestry and was 
born in Montreal, Canada, but came to Michigan at the age of six 
years. In March, 1884, he went on the Vermillion Range of northern 
Minnesota as foreman of the blacksmith shop at Tower. Later he 
located at Soudan in St. Louis County and in that locality has maintained 
his home for over thirty years and is still active in service as a black- 
smith foreman. He married Obeline Vandal, of French parentage. 

Albert St. Vincent is the oldest of eight children. He was three 
years old when he and his mother and a brother six months old followed 
his father to Soudan in September, 1884, and in that mining village he 
grew up and acquired his early grade school education. He also attended 
a business college two years, and at the age of seventeen became a helper 
in the mine blacksmith shop under his father. Subsequently for a few 
months he worked in the supply department, was then transferred to 
Section Thirty Mine at Ely for the Minnesota Iron Company, next 
became timekeeper at Soudan, where he remained four years, and in the 
spring of 1903 came to the Mesaba Range as mine clerk for the LaBelle 
Mining Company at McKinley. That mine closed down the same sum- 
mer, and he found a variety of experience at Cripple Creek, Colorado, 
where he was employed as hoisting engineer and in other capacities by 
the Golden Cycle Mining Company for four months. His next work 
was in Sunrise, Wyoming, where he was a warehouseman for the Colo- 
rado Fuel & Iron Company and the Colorado & Wyoming Railroad 
Company, remaining in that service two years. 

Vol. Ill— 7 



1028 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Returning to Minnesota in 1905, Mr. St. Vincent located at Ely and 
was timekeeper at the Pioneer and Chandler Mines for the Oliver Iron 
Mining Company. In January, 1906, he went to Ironwood, Michigan, 
as assistant mining engineer for the Newport Mining Company. In 
order to increase his proficiency as a mining man by technical instruc- 
tion he entered the Michigan School of Mines at Houghton in Septem- 
ber, 1906, and remained with that great institution for one year. 

Then in 1907 Mr. St. Vincent came to Hibbing and resumed service 
with the Oliver Iron Mining Company as mining engineer. He per- 
formed duties in that capacity at all the mines operated by the com- 
pany in the Hibbing district. In 1916 be was made assistant chief engi- 
neer for the Hibbing district for the Oliver Company, and in April, 1918, 
became assistant superintendent, the office he now holds. While assist- 
ant chief engineer he performed the original cross section work before 
stripping started on the Rust part of the Hull-Rust Mine. He also did 
the original cross section and topographical work on the North Uno, 
South Uno and Dale Mines up to January 1, 1915. These are Great 
Northern iron ore properties, but until the date mentioned were operated 
by the Oliver Company, when they were returned to the Great Northern. 
Mr. St. Vincent while engineer at these mines had a share in that inter- 
esting engineering task involved in the opening of the Carson Lake 
Mine. Carson Lake was at that time a real lake, constituting a body 
of about eighty acres of water, or approximately three hundred million 
gallons. This water was pumped away by two centrifugal pumps in 
two months, and as the lake was emptied the material from the strip- 
ping operations which were begun on the Kerr Mine some two and a 
half miles north was brought down and dumped into the north and west 
sides of the lake bottom. This fill involved the transfer of approximately 
a million five hundred thousand cubic yards of material. When forty 
acres of Carson Lake had been covered with this stripping the Carson 
Lake shaft was started and sunk a hundred eighty-seven feet to taconite 
and then drifts were started towards the main ore body, and thus mining 
operations undertaken in earnest. 

Mr. St. Vincent is one of the well known mining officials of northern 
Minnesota and for a number of years has had his home at Hibbing. 
On December 24, 1907, he married Miss Nelle McClure, of Lansing, 
Michigan. Her father, Daniel McClure, was long prominent in Michigan 
educational affairs and politics, serving as county superintendent of 
schools and as assistant state superintendent of schools. Mr. and Mrs. 
St. Vincent have three sons, Burt McClure, Frank Daniel and William. 

Charles Peterson has been one of the busy men in the Range 
country of northern Minnesota for about thirty years. He has been 
a practical miner, a worker in various capacities with iron mining com- 
panies, has been an engineer, a hotel man, and for a number of years 
past has been in the hardware business at Chisholm. 

Mr. Peterson was born in Sweden January 28, 1871. His father, 
Peter Magnus Peterson, was born about 1817 and spent an active life 
as a farmer until his death at the age of fifty-five. Of the large family 
of twelve children Charles was next to the youngest. Five of them are 
still living, three brothers and two sisters, and all are now in America. 
Charles Peterson grew up on a farm, lived there to the age of seven- 
teen, and after acquiring a common school education put in his time 
as a farm worker and also had some experience as a railroad brakeman. 

It was in 1888 that he came across the ocean, landing in New York, 
and during the first 3 years worked in a saw-milling plant in Penn- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1029 

sylvania. His first work was "jacking logs" and after that "riding car- 
riage." After this saw milling experience Mr. Peterson came to Ely, 
Minnesota, and worked as a miner in the Chandler Mine for six years. 
For another six years he was employed in the Pioneer Mine. From 
that he entered the service of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, at first 
on a diamond drill and later was engaged for exploration work over 
the various properties, spending altogether about four years in this way. 
Then followed a service as electrical engineer for the city of Ely in 
1907, and about that time he first came to Chisholm, where for six 
months he was an electrical driller at one of the mines. Going back 
to Ely, he bought the Vermilion Hotel, and was proprietor of that pop- 
ular hostelry for seven years. 

Mr. Peterson came to Chisholm in 1915 and with his brother Gust 
bought out the Johnson Brothers hardware and furnace store and for 
the past five years has done a profitable business under the firm name 
of Peterson Brothers. Mr. Peterson had not been long in this country 
before he applied for his citizenship papers and completed his natural- 
ization July 12, 1898. He is independent in politics. He is a Lutheran, 
a past grand of Lematite Lodge No. 9 of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 462, is 
affiliated with Lodge No. 226 of the Loyal Order of Moose, and is a 
member of the Kiwanis Club. October 1, 1902, in Pennsylvania, 
Mr. Peterson married Miss Nancy Freberg, who came from Smoland, 
Sweden. They have two children, Jennie Irene, born in 1903, and 
Carl Elmer, born in 1907. 

Peter McHardy. While the first exploration and testing that 
marked the first chapter in the history of Hibbing began in 1892, it 
was very early in the following year, February 17, 1893, to be exact, 
that Peter McHardy identified himself with the locality. One of the 
oldest residents, he has made his enterprise a factor in the development 
of the community and is proud of its prosperity and in every way pos- 
sible has exerted himself for the benefit of his home city. 

Mr. McHardy was born in western Ontario May 4, 1868, son of 
William and Margaret (Thorn) McHardy. His parents came to Can- 
ada from the vicinity of Aberdeen, Scotland, and were Canadian farm- 
ers. Peter McHardy grew up on the home farm and was educated in the 
public schools. In the fall of 1889 he came to northern Michigan, and 
for about two years was employed as an ordinary laborer. 

Then he came into the Range country of northern Minnesota and 
first found employment with the Lake Superior Iron Mines, principally 
as a tester. In December, 1893, he helped clear the streets of the pres- 
ent village of Hibbing, and later worked as a carpenter on some of the 
early buildings in the town. In 1895, more than a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago, Mr. McHardy entered the retail lumber, fuel, flour and feed 
business, to which he devoted his best energies until October 1, 1910, 
when he sold out, and since then has given his attention to real estate 
and more particularly of late to practical farming, since in St. Louis 
County he owns about eighteen hundred acres, a portion of which is 
cleared and under crops. 

Mr. McHardy has never been a politician, though he has maintained 
a keen interest in the growth, development and material welfare of Hib- 
bing. He served one term as township treasurer, several terms as vil- 
lage councilman, and in 1906 was elected president of Hibbing, being 
one of the first to hold that office. He was reared a Presbyterian and 
is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 



1030 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

On September 1. 1898, Mr. McHardy married Miss Delia Slattery, 
of Hibbing. The nine children born to their marriage are Margaret 
Ann, George Alexander, Effdor, Delia, James, Chloris, Jean Marie, 
Marian and Frances. During the World war Mr. McHardy was a 
member of the Stuntz Township War Fund Board. He has had much 
to overcome in his efforts to make life a success, being hampered by a 
lack of education, and has depended upon hard work at all times as the 
sure and direct means to achievement. He has gained an honored name 
and has the confidence and esteem of his fellow men and has reason to 
be proud of his individual participation in the historic destiny of the 
Range district of Minnesota. 

Edward H. Nelson, M. D. For the past seventeen years Dr. Edward 
H. Nelson of Chisholm has been identified with public affairs of the 
Mesaba Range country of northern Minnesota, and especially those con- 
nected with Chisholm. He is a man of exceptional capabilities in his 
profession, is particularly efficient as a public official, and measures up 
to the highest standards of citizenship. During the great war he offered 
his services to his country, but the authorities decided that owing to 
his age he could be more useful if he remained at home and exerted him- 
self in behalf of local war work, which he did like the loyal citizen 
he is. Genial and capable, a gentleman of the finest type, Doctor Nelson 
commands respect and confidence wherever known. 

He was born at Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 30, 1875, a son of 
Ellef and Ingeberg (Anderson) Nelson, who were natives of Norway 
and Denmark, respectively. The father came to the United States in 
1866 and the mother in 1871, and they were married at Faribault, Min- 
nesota. He has devoted his life to railroad work, and now, at the age 
of seventy-four years, is conductor on the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
St. Paul Railroad, and for fifty-four years has been in the service of 
this road. 

Growing up at Minneapolis, Doctor Nelson was given the advantages 
offered by its excellent public schools, where he formed the determination 
to study for the medical profession, and with this end in view matric- 
ulated in the medical department of the Minnesota State University, 
from which he was graduated in 1903, with the degree of Doctor of 
Medicine, and then for the subsequent eighteen months served as an 
interne at Saint Barnabas Hospital. 

In 1904 Doctor Nelson came to Chisholm to enter the service of 
the Rood Hospital, and is still connected with it and is also carrying 
on a general practice. He belongs to the American Medical Association, 
the American Fellowship, an auxiliary of the former, the Minnesota 
State and St. Louis County Medical Societies, and the Range Medical 
Association. Earlier in his career he made a special study of anesthe- 
sia, and while vet an interne an article of his entitled "The Art of 
Giving General Anesthesia" appeared in the medical press and attracted 
widespread attention and received the approval of the profession. Doctor 
Nelson was elected in 1908 a trustee of Chisholm, and was in office 
during the period of the great fire, and for twelve years has been a 
member of the School Board, of which he is now president. He is a 
Republican in politics. In 1910 he was elected president of the village 
of Chisholm and re-elected in 1911 and also re-elected in 1918. The 
Chisholm Commercial and Kiwanis Clubs hold his membership and bene- 
fit by his intelligent stand on public questions and his active interest in 
civic affairs. Fraternally he belongs to the Elks, Knights of Pythias 
and Masonic Orders. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1031 

On July 26, 1905, Doctor Nelson was married to Miss Marie Saucier, 
of Osseo, Minnesota, and they have two daughters : Lucille L. and 
Marjorie M. Doctor Nelson is a Lutheran and his wife is Roman Cath- 
olic. Both as a physician and citizen Doctor Nelson has attained to 
the full measure of popular esteem and confidence, and reaches the under- 
standing of his fellow citizens directly and surely. He is looked up to 
and his advise is sought and followed, and his arguments in behalf of 
any movement are convincing in their simplicity and sincerity. He is 
a man of high ideals, keen life interests and sound judgment, and has 
handled with tact and success a number of difficult problems, while 
personally he possesses a charm of manner, culture and a wide range 
of intellectual connections. 

Arthur O. Wilson. In a career of some twenty years, during 
which he has risen from a common laborer to general superintendent of 
the Susquehanna Mine of the Rogers-Brown Iron Company, Arthur O. 
Wilson has exhibited the earnestness, industry and sound ability that 
justify his prominence in mining circles though personally he is very 
quiet and unassuming and only his efficiency in his position and the 
respect accorded him by his friends and associates betray how thoroughly 
he knows his business. 

Mr. Wilson was born at Wichita, Kansas, December 1, 1879, son 
of George and Anna (Olmstead) Wilson. His parents, now deceased, 
were Ohio farmers, and Arthur was one of four children. He grew up 
in eastern Ohio, acquired a public school education, and since the age 
of twenty has been doing for himself. He came to Hibbing in 1900 
and for a time worked as a common laborer in the Mahoning Mine. His 
next work was as shipping clerk with the Mahoning Ore & Steel Com- 
pany, following which he became transit man, and by close study and 
observation perfected himself in all branches of practical mining engi- 
neering. In 1911 he was placed as engineer in charge of the Susquehanna 
Mine, in 1916 was made superintendent, and since January 1, 1919, 
has been general superintendent of this large and important property 
in the Hibbing district. 

Mr. Wilson married Miss Gladys Shaw, of Duluth, in 1918. They 
have one daughter, Margaret Ann. 

George K. Trask has been a resident of Chisholm since 1908, and 
after coming to the village took up and diligently pursued the study of 
law, and for the past six years has been earning a fine reputation and 
performing some splendid service as a lawyer. 

He was born August 11, 1876, at Mountsberg, County Wentworth, 
Ontario, son of George and Emily (Mount) Trask. His maternal 
grandfather, John Mount, was a pioneer of Ontario and the town of 
Mountsberg was named in his honor. George Trask was a lumberman, 
and was engaged in the saw mill business until 1895. He and his wife 
are still living at Orillia, Canada. 

Reared in Canada, George K. Trask attended the grammar and 
high schools of his native county, graduating from the Orillia High 
School in 1895, and then for ten and a half years his time and ener- 
gies were devoted to the profession of teaching. Four and a half years 
of that time he was identified with the schools of his native province, 
and afterward was a teacher in Minnesota. He came to this state in 
1900 and has been continuously a resident of Minnesota except for two 
years at Winnipeg, Manitoba. Soon after coming to Chisholm in 1908 



1032 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Trask was made clerk of the Municipal Court, and performed the 
duties of that office until 1913. 

In 1909 he took up the study of law and pursued the study with 
an unremitting diligence in connection with other duties until he was 
qualified for the bar. In 1913 he entered the law office of Edward 
Freeman of Chisholm, now district judge, and was a student and 
assistant in the office of Judge Freeman until admitted to the bar in 
1914. and continued with Judge Freeman until 1915. For the past five 
years he has practiced alone, and has had a busy career in the law and 
in local affairs. 

Mr. Trask served as village attorney from March, 1916, to March, 
1919. and from August, 1917, until August, 1920, was a member of 
the Chisholm School Board. During the World war he was a member 
of the Local Advisory Board and one of the Four-minute Speakers. 
He is an independent Republican, served as worshipful master in 1917 
of Hematite Lodge No. 274, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, is 
a member of the Lodge of Perfection of the Scottish Rite at Hibbing, 
was noble grand in 1910 of Lematite Lodge No. 9, Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, and also belongs to the Order of Elks and the Kiwanis 
Club. July 17, 1913, Mr. Trask married Elizabeth Tolle, a native of 
Minnesota. They have one daughter, Flora Hermine. 

John A. Redfern. For more than a quarter of a century a resi- 
dent of Hibbing. John A. Redfern is conceded to be one of the best 
posted men on iron ore on the Mesaba Range. A practical mining 
expert, he has other interests, and was a leader in patriotic measures 
at Hibbing during the World war and at all times and under all cir- 
cumstances has measured up to the highest standards of good citizen- 
ship. 

Mr. Redfern was born in Derbyshire, England, October 10, 1867, 
and four years later, in 1871, came with his parents, Herbert and 
Mary Ann (Wooley) Redfern, to Canada. For ten years the family 
home was at Owen Sound in Ontario, where the mother died. Her- 
bert Redfern then removed to Negaunee, Michigan, where he was iden- 
tified with the mining operations of that section, but for a number 
of years past has made his home in British Columbia. 

John A. Redfern began life with only a common school education, 
and since the age of eighteen his experiences have all been centered 
around the mining industry. His first regular duties performed in the 
mines were as a "scrammer." Since then he has filled practically every 
position in the business save that pertaining to the chemical depart- 
ment. He worked as a blacksmith's helper, fired a boiler, ran an 
engine, and served as a powder monkey, and in 1886 went to the Goge- 
bic Range as timekeeper and shipping clerk at the Aurora Mine, and 
later as assistant mining engineer. Returning to Negaunee in 1890, 
he was assistant to the superintendent of lands for the Cleveland- 
Cliffs Iron Company. In 1892 he became superintendent of the Piatt 
Mining and Manufacturing Company, and when in 1895 the Penobscot 
Mining Company began its explorations on the Mesaba Range Mr. Red- 
fern was selected to come to Hibbing as superintendent of explorations 
and as such opened the old Penobscot Mine, which was developed under 
his direction and eventually sold to the Donora Mining Company. 
About the time the Penobscot Mine was transferred Mr. Redfern 
became inspector of fees for the Mississippi Land Company, and that 
has been the official nature of his duties ever since. For many years 
he has been a resident of Hibbing, and is a director of the First National 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1033 

Bank of the city. He is financially interested in townsite properties. 
During the World war he was chairman of the various Liberty Loan 
committees that in every instance succeeded in raising more funds than 
the allotment specified. He was also local secretary of the War Activ- 
ities Fund, an organization that created a fund of $134,380.60. Mr. Red- 
fern is a charter member and a past worshipful master of Mesaba Lodge 
No. 255, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, has attained the thirty- 
second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry, is a member of the Mystic 
Shrine, and belongs to the Algonquin and Kiwanis Clubs. In 1894 he 
married Miss Lillian J. Seass, of Negaunee, Michigan. Mrs. Redfern 
is a member of the Episcopal Church. 

Manne Hedin. While he had a business experience in several dif- 
ferent lines in his native country of Sweden and also after coming to 
America, Manne Hedin has been chiefly interested as a painting and 
decorating contractor and has probably the largest business of its kind 
at Chisholm and one of the most extensive on the Iron Range. 

Mr. Hedin was born at Soderala, Sweden, February 20, 1879. His 
father was born in 1836 and lived to the age of sixty-six. The mother's 
maiden name was Maria Katarina Spoere, and she was born in Smo- 
land, Sweden, in 1836. Of their large family of twelve children Manne 
is the youngest and six are still living. 

Manne Hedin was three years of age when his parents moved to 
Ostersund, and there he grew to years of maturity. He had a com- 
mon school education, spent four years in high school and also served 
a complete apprenticeship with his father, who was a painting con- 
tractor for the railroad. On leaving home Manne Hedin removed to 
Gothenburg and was employed in the office and to some extent as a 
traveling representative for a wholesale paper house. That was his 
occupation for about six years, and he then continued in the same busi- 
ness but with another firm at Malmo, Sweden, for about one year. 

When Mr. Hedin came to the United States in 1906 his first service 
was with the Everett Piano Company of Boston. He was one of the 
experts in the painting and finishing department for the company, and 
was a workman in their shops for a year and a half. On leaving Bos- 
ton he came to Duluth and entered the service of his brother, T. H. Hedin, 
a painting contractor. After four years he left his brother's employ and 
for the next two years was a hardwood finisher with the firm of Scott & 
Graff Company. 

It was in 1913 that Mr, Heden came to Chisholm, and during the 
first year was employed with Gust Anderson, a building contractor. 
He and Karl G. Lambert formed a partnership in general painting and 
the retail paint business at Second avenue, South. The partnership was 
dissolved after a year and since then Mr. Hedin has been in business 
for himself and continued at the location on Second avenue. South, 
until he moved into his new store on Lake street early in 1920. He 
has a well equipped store, carrying all the standard wares and goods 
and maintains an excellent organization for painting and decorating. 

Mr. Hedin received his second papers as an American citizen Janu- 
ary 8, 1915. He is affiliated with Hematite Lodge No. 274, Ancient 
Free and Accepted Masons, Lematite Lodge No. 9 of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of Chisholm Lodge of the 
Order of Vasa, the Kiwanis Club, and in religion is a Lutheran. In 
North Dakota November 25, 1908, he married Maria Desidefia Lund- 
guist, of Loberod, Sweden, where she was born May 23, 1881. They 
have one daughter, Dagmar Maria, born February 5, 1910. 



1034 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

William P. Mars by virtue of thirty years residence is one of 
the older citizens of Duluth. This period has been one of growing 
business responsibility and with accumulating interests that make him 
one of the foremost men of affairs in the northern part of the state. 
As an individual he has worked with organizations and contributed 
effectively to the splendid position maintained by Duluth as one of the 
great commercial centers of the north. 

Mr! Mars was born in Chicago, Illinois, December 17, 1866, a son 
of R. W. and Fanny J. (Blenkensop) Mars. His father also became 
prominently known in Duluth, where he located in 1890. He was a 
mechanical engineer by profession, also superintendent of the Mari- 
nette Iron Works at West Duluth, and was later connected with the 
Marshall Mills Company as a salesman until his death in 1910. 

William P. Mars grew up in Chicago, acquired his education in the 
public schools there, and came to Duluth in 1890. For three years 
he was cashier for the Marinette Iron Works at West Duluth and then 
went north on the Range to Virginia City and established the pioneer 
mining supply and hardware store. He was the prtive head of this 
business for five years. 

In January, 1898, Mr. Mars became associated with the Marshall 
Wells Company as department manager of its railroad and mining 
machinery department. He soon acquired a financial interest in the 
business and was elected one of the vice presidents and was identified 
with that great wholesale hardware concern for twenty-three years. 
In 1921 Mr. Mars severed his connection with the Marshall Wells Com- 
pany and became one of the organizers of the Meagher-Mars Company 
of Duluth. This is an organization making a specialty of the lines 
with which Mr. Mars had gained such long familiarity during his con- 
nection with the Marshall Wells Company. They are wholesale dealers 
in railroad, mining and industrial machinery, and almost from the start 
have enjoyed exceptional connections with the trade of the great mining 
districts of the north. Mr. Mars is one of the principal stockholders 
and is vice president and treasurer of the company. 

In April, 1889, he married Miss Leonora J. Prescott, of Marinette, 
Wisconsin, daughter of Sumner J. and Florence (Bullock) Prescott. 
Mr. and Mrs. Mars have four children: Robert Sumner: Florence, wife 
of Allison Walker ; William Phillip and Richard Prescott. Mr. Mars 
is popular in social affairs at Duluth, is affiliated with all the local 
branches of Masonry, and is a member of the Northland Country Club, 
the Commercial Club and the Kitchi Gammi Club. 

Mike Salminen. A Hibbing business man who began his career 
in comparative obscurity and has achieved for himself a dignified suc- 
cess and a position of high regard in his community, Mike Salminen 
is owner of the Merchants Warehouse Company of Hibbing, and has 
been a resident of that village for over twenty years. 

He was born in Finland November 26, 1870. He grew up and 
acquired a common school education in his native country. In 1887, 
when he was seventeen years of age, he came with his parents, Thomas 
and Serafina (Holt) Salminen, to the United States. The family located 
at New York Mills, Minnesota, where Thomas Salminen took out natu- 
ralization papers and began his career on a homestead. In recent years 
Thomas Salminen and wife left the old Minnesota farm and removed 
to Ashburn, Massachusetts, where he died in 1920 and where his widow 
is still living. 





t^6t#^ct C* 7r/ ' svts^ 



7 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1035 

All of their seven children are living today. Mike Salminen came to 
manhood at New York Mills, had his early business training there, and 
in 1899 came to Hibbing, when the town was new, and opened a gro- 
cery and meat market on Pine street. From the beginning he prospered 
as the result of hard work, honesty and close application. In this busi- 
ness he was associated with John K. Maki, who has been connected 
with him for the most part ever since. Under the firm name of Sal- 
minen & Maki they operated their original establishment on Pine street 
and later established a branch house known as the Cash Market Com- 
pany at 709-11 Third avenue. The Pine street store was abandoned 
and the partners gave their entire attention to the Cash Market Com- 
pany. In 1915 they retired from the general grocery and meat business. 
They had in the meantime acquired an interest in the Merchants Ware- 
house Company, and then bought the interests of the remaining stock- 
holders and continued this business together until 1920, when Mr. Sal- 
minen bought out Mr. Maki's interest and is now sole proprietor. 

He has other important business connections with Hibbing, being a 
director of the Security State Bank and a director of the Hibbing State 
Bank at South Hibbing. Mr. Salminen is an active member and treas- 
urer of the Finnish Lutheran Church of Hibbing and is a Republican 
in politics. 

In July, 1894, he married Sanni Maki, sister of his former business 
partner. They have four children, Elma E., Werner L., Eino Rudolf 
and Irma Lucile. Elma was a teacher in the Hibbing schools for four 
years and is now the wife of Dr. George Jarvinen. Werner volunteered 
for service in the World war, joining the fighting forces as a private, 
but on account of his efficiency in office detail work was transferred 
and for over a year was employed in one of the big transfer offices in 
France as bookkeeper and stenographer. 

William E. Bates, chief engineer of the Chisholm District for the 
Oliver Iron Mining Company, is a typical representative of the kind 
of man the big Range corporations demand for their high official posi- 
tions, and in his work is setting a pace and raising a standard hard to 
equal and impossible to excel. He was born in Boone County, Illinois, 
December 10, 1879, and when he was two years old his parents, Ben- 
jamin A. and Esther (Norris) Bates, moved to Butler County, Iowa, 
where they lived on a farm until 1896. In that year removal was made 
to Mason City, Iowa, and there he had better educational opportunities, 
of which he took advantage and was graduated from the high school 
course in 1898. 

For four years succeeding his graduation Mr. Bates worked as a 
clerk and stenographer, a portion of that time being with the Chicago 
& Northwestern Railroad, and the remaining period was with a law 
firm. He then entered the civil engineering department of the State 
University of Wisconsin at Madison, and was graduated therefrom in 
1906, and immediately thereafter came to the Mesaba Range in north- 
ern Minnesota and became an engineer at the Clark Mine for the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company. Subsequently he filled different positions, work- 
ing as engineer at the Hull-Rust Mine, assistant to the chief engineer 
of the Chisholm District, following which he was for a short time 
engaged in doing topographical work. Entering the offices of the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company at Hibbing, he remained there until February, 
1909, when he was sent to Mount Iron as assistant to the chief engi- 
neer, and he was also at Virginia, Minnesota. During all of this period 
Mr. Bates was acquiring that practical experience through actual oper- 



1036 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

ation which is so necessary in his profession, and in 1910 his superiors 
were so convinced of his fitness for this class of work that they made 
him chief engineer of the Chisholm District, a rather remarkable pro- 
motion for a young man, but subsequent events proved the wisdom of 
the selection. 

On July 31, 1916, Mr. Bates was united in marriage with Agnes 
Ruehle, of Stillwater, Minnesota. Mrs. Bates is a member of the Epis- 
copal Church. Mr. Bates is not only prominent in professional circles, 
but has attained to distinction along other lines. A stalwart Repub- 
lican, he was elected on his party ticket in 1914 as a member of the 
board of Balkan township, and still holds the office, and during all of 
his membership has served the board as chairman. For the past couple 
of years he has been president of the Chisholm Chamber of Commerce 
and has taken an active part in promoting the civic welfare of his com- 
munity. Well known in Masonry, Mr. Bates was worshipful master 
of Hematite Lodge No. 274, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and 
he is a thirty-second degree Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Mason and 
a member of the Mystic Shrine. The Kiwanis Club has in him one of 
its most influential and forceful members and in it as in all of the 
other organizations with which he is connected he takes a constructive 
part. 

William John Ryder. One of Hibbing's oldest merchants and 
business men, William John Ryder is also probably the oldest native son 
of Minnesota found in that community. 

He was born at Pine City, Minnesota, December 26, 1867, son of 
John and Sophia (Schweitzer) Ryder. His mother was a native of 
Saxony, Germany. John Ryder was a pioneer of Pine City, Minnesota. 

One of a family of nine children, William John Ryder had to con- 
tent himself with limited advantages during his youth. He attended 
school until he was about twelve or thirteen years of age, his instruction 
being chiefly confined to the three R's. He learned cabinet making 
and wood carving at St. Paul, and was employed in that line of business 
by the Palace Furniture Company in St. Paul from 1886 to 1894. From 
1894 to 1900 he was in the furniture business on his own account at 
St. Paul, and in May of the latter year came to the village of Hibbing, 
only about seven years after the original townsite had been laid out. 
Except for a tailoring establishment he opened the first retail store on 
Third avenue, at the southeast corner of Third and Center streets. 
In October, 1909, the year of the Chisholm fire, Mr. Ryder moved to 
his present location, and has continued in business there over ten years. 

While never an office seeker, he has accepted a full share of those 
responsibilities that are a part of good American citizenship. For the 
past three years he has been a member of the Park Commission and is 
now chairman of that commission. He was elected president of the 
Commercial Club in 1917, and has been at the head of this live organiza- 
tion of local citizens for two years. For three years he was also a 
member of the Water and Light Commission, retiring as chairman in 
1917. Mr. Ryder is a director of the Security State Bank and of the 
Hibbing State Bank. 

On December 26, 1892, he married Miss Josephine Achenbach, of 
Alma, Wisconsin. They are the parents of four children : Ada, wife 
of J. E. Capra ; Eleanor, Mrs. Valentine Kuechmeister ; William 
John, Jr. ; and Mae. 









^£^*4^^ 



cX 




DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1037 

James Francis Dacey was a power in Duluth manufacturing circles 
for over a quarter of a century. He was founder of one of the city's 
most considerable industries, the Gogebic Steam Boiler Works. He 
began to learn the boiler maker's trade just fifty years before his death, 
and with the skill acquired through a long journeyman's experience he 
united the executive force that proved him one of the masterful business 
men of his generation. 

He was born at Canandaigua, New York, September 3, 1853, son 
of Bartholomew and Mary Ann Dacey. Both are now deceased, the 
mother having survived the father several years. Bartholomew Dacey, 
who died in 1855, was a contractor and for a number of years was 
employed in construction work on the Erie Railroad. 

James F. Dacey acquired a common school education, never getting 
beyond the eighth grade. He first started to learn the printer's trade, 
but finding this uncongenial in 1866, when thirteen years of age, he 
entered the Brooks Locomotive Works plant at Dunkirk, New York. He 
worked on the first locomotive built by that giant concern, and thor- 
oughly learned the boiler maker's trade in that plant. Leaving it in 
1872, he went out to Elkhart, Indiana, and for four years was in the 
shops of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Company. From 1876 
to 1888 Mr. Dacey was employed as foreman boiler maker by the 
Union Pacific Railway Company between Omaha and other western 
cities on the route. During the twenty years of his employment he had 
thriftily conserved his means, and in November, 1889, brought his 
capital to Duluth, then a city of about thirty thousand inhabitants. 
Here he established the Gogebic Steam Boiler Works, the original plant 
being 60 by 100 feet. From the first he was insistent upon the quality 
and thoroughness of all the work produced by this plant. That reputa- 
tion has consistently adhered to the Gogebic output, and the industry 
has survived every period of depression in the northwest. The original 
capacity having been outgrown in 1907, the plant was greatly enlarged 
and thoroughly equipped with the most up-to-date machinery and every 
facility called for in a modern manufacturing establishment. It is 
operated with power generated by the Great Northern Power Company 
system at St. Louis Falls. It was the first plant in Duluth to obtain 
current from this public utility. 

The Gogebic Steam Boiler Works manufacture boilers for steam 
heating and hot water, for manufacturing and mining purposes, tanks, 
smokestacks, sheet iron work and plate work of every description. This 
product is shipped throughout the northwest, and during the last several 
years has gone also to eastern and western territory. 

The late Mr. Dacey was a pioneer on the Vermilion and Mesaba 
Iron ranges. He built and placed the first boilers going into service 
to develop the iron industry. That was long before the advent of rail- 
ways, and the boilers had to be hauled in sections and set up in the 
field. Mr. Dacey in 1911 also became interested in and took over the 
plant formerly known as the Northwestern Steam Boiler and Manu- 
facturing Company. With that property he organized a new company 
known as the Duluth Boiler Works. It has enjoyed a steady growth 
and prosperity, and its products are known from coast to coast. In 
the midst of the success and responsibilities connected with these two 
industries Mr. Dacey was called by death March 17, 1916. His life 
was an inspiring example of complete devotion to business and home 
interests. He was never in politics as a candidate, though he worked 
for the success of friends and of the Republican party. His chief 
diversion was baseball, and he played that game as a youth and to the 



1038 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

end of his life was regarded as the most ardent fan in Duluth. He was 
a member of the Sacred Heart Cathedral of the Catholic Church at 
Duluth. 

August 16, 1875, at Elkhart, Indiana, he married Mary Ann Nolan, 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Nolan. The only surviving child of 
Mr. and Mrs. Dacey is Francis J. Dacey, who married Mary Gowan. 

Francis James Dacey. For a quarter of a century, beginning when 
he was a youth, Francis James Dacey has recognized one dominant 
business interest at Duluth, the Gogebic Steam Boiler Works, orig- 
inally a product of his father's industrial genius, but the modern 
extension of which, keeping pace with the wonderful growth and 
development of Duluth, has been largely achieved by Francis J. 
Dacey. 

The latter was born at Laramie City, Wyoming, July 3, 1878, son 
of James Francis and Mary Ann (Nolan) Dacey. His father spent 
his early years in Canandaigua, New York, and died March 17, 1916. 
He was long an honored and influential citizen, business man and 
manufacturer of St. Louis county. 

Francis J. Dacey, oldest of three children and the only one now- 
living, was educated in the parochial and public schools of Duluth 
and in 1895, at the age of seventeen, entered his father's business, the 
Gogebic Steam Boiler Works at 409-415 Lake Avenue, South. Be- 
sides building up this industry he has also been interested in the 
Duluth Boiler Works since its reorganization in 1911. 

Mr. Dacey has been active in local affairs, serving four years as 
a member of the Civil Service Board, is a Republican, a member of 
the Commercial Club, Kitchi Gammi Club and Boat Club, and belongs 
to Sacred Heart Cathedral. April 6, 1909, he married at Duluth 
Mary Gowan. Her father was the late Andrew Gowan. Mr. and 
Mrs." Dacey have three children, Mary Elizabeth, Francis Gowan 
and Henry Gowan Dacey. 

Andrew Gowan. As a pioneer in northern Minnesota, contributing 
materially to the growth of several industries, chiefly logging and the 
wholesale grocery business, and at the time of his death one of the most 
prominent of Duluth's business men, his many friends and old time 
business associates will appreciate the appropriateness of a brief record 
of the career of the late Andrew Gowan. 

He was born in New Brunswick April 15, 1851, son of George and 
Mary Gowan. During his early boyhood his parents moved to Min- 
nesota and settled in Stillwater. He received a very brief common school 
education and while very young began working in the lumber camps. 
In this industry he rose from laborer to executive of one of the largest 
corporations. 

In October, 1878, at Stillwater, Mr. Gowan married Miss Mary 
Bergin, daughter of Matthey Bergin. Soon after his marriage he moved 
to Cloquet, which was rapidly becoming the center of northern Min- 
nesota's logging operations. The C. N. Nelson Lumber Company, later 
a part of the Weyerhaeuser interests, maintained headquarters there. 
After working in many capacities for the C. N. Nelson Company 
Mr. Gowan was made general superintendent of the logging operations 
and a member of the company. Severing his connections with Cloquet 
interests in 1899 and moving to Duluth, Mr. Gowan started several 
logging camps of his own and became a potent factor in logging circles 
at the Head of the Lakes. About the same time he organized the Gowan. 
Peyton, Tuohy Company, wholesale grocers, later reorganizing it, and 



L~ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1039 

was instrumental in making this business one of the largest in the north- 
west. His death in 1907 closed a long and influential period of years, 
in which he was president of the Gowan-Peyton-Congdon Company and 
a director of the American Exchange National Bank of Duluth. 

At the time of his death he was a member of the various Duluth 
clubs, a Knight of Columbus and a Democrat. Early in his career he 
served as mayor of Cloquet and later was vitally interested in Duluth 
civic and philanthropic organizations. 

In 1904 he suffered the loss of his wife. He was survived by Mary 
Gowan Dacey, wife of Francis J. Dacey of Duluth ; Lillian, wife of 
John Carver Richards, of Virginia; Henry Patrick, who later as an 
American soldier was killed in action in France, September 26, 1918; 
Claudia, of Virginia ; Andrew Dennis, of Duluth ; and George Joseph, 
of Minneapolis. 

Andrew J. Sullivan. At the time of his death, which occurred 
July 7, 1920, Andrew J. Sullivan had given more than a third of a 
century of faithful and competent service to the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company. By that corporation he was held in high esteem, measured 
in many promotions and in various tokens of appreciation, and he was 
one of the best known men in the Iron Ranges of northern Minnesota. 
Prior to his death for a number of years he had been general superin- 
tendent of the Chisholm District in the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 

Mr. Sullivan was born at Eagle Harbor, Michigan, April 4, 1866, 
and death came to him when he was just in the prime of his years 
and usefulness. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Sullivan, were 
both born in Ireland, and of their large family of sixteen children 
he was second in age. Three years after his birth his parents moved 
to Champion, Michigan, and it was there he acquired his early educa- 
tion in the common schools. He was only twelve when he became 
chore boy for his neighbors, helping earn his own living. Not long 
afterward he was employed at the Champion Mine ''picking over" ore. 
The next stage of employment was at the warehouse assisting the clerk, 
and still later he was placed in charge of the warehouse. Then followed 
promotion to the office, where he remained until the closing down of 
the mine. 

It was in 1903 that Mr. Sullivan in the course of his duties with 
the Oliver Iron Mining Company came to the Mesaba Range as an 
accountant for the Auburn Mine at Virginia. Next after that he was 
accountant at the Fayal Mine, later clerk at the Genoa Mine, and in 
1908 was made superintendent of the Genoa Mine and subsequently 
opened the Gilbert Mine, continuing in charge of both properties until 
1910. Then followed his appointment and promotion to the post of 
general superintendent of all the Oliver Mines in the Chisholm District, 
and he discharged those responsibilities during the last ten years of 
his life. 

August 18, 1897, he married Mary Coyne at Champion. She was 
born in Pennsylvania, daughter of Patrick and Mary (Charles worth) 
Coyne, her father a native of Ireland and her mother of England. 
When she was nine years of age her parents removed to Republic, 
Michigan, and later to Champion, in which town she met Mr. Sullivan. 
Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan had five children, named Mary Constance, John 
Charlesworth, Eugene S., Kathryne E. and Helen Patricia. 

The late Mr. Sullivan was characterized by sterling good citizenship 
and a usefulness that made him widely known outside his home and 
immediate official duty. For two years he served as supervisor of 



1040 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mesaba Township. For more than ten years he was a member and 
several times director of the School Board of Genoa and McKinley, 
Independent District No. 18, served as a member of the Chisholm 
Library Board for two years, was a stanch Republican in politics, a 
member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church and fraternally was affiliated 
with Duluth Lodge of the Knights of Columbus, with the Knights of 
the Macabees at Eveleth, with the Elks Lodge at Eveleth, and with the 
Ancient Order of Hibernians at Ishpeming. 

Anthony Sartori. Commercial intercourse between honorable 
tradesmen and other residents of a community very often results in high 
mutual appreciation and lasting friendships. This feeling prevails 
between the good people of Buhl, Minnesota, and their best patronized 
grocer, Anthony Sartori, who has been in active business here for more 
than thirteen years. 

Anthony Sartori was borti October 18, 1886, in the historic old 
city of Venice, Italy. His parents were Peter and Mary (Slaviero) 
Sartori, the former of whom was born at Venice in 1848, and the latter 
also in Italy, in 1852. They were married in 1873, and of their eight 
children Anthony is the fourth in order of birth. He had school advan- 
tages in his native city, and as his father was a lumber contractor of some 
means, he was able to have one year in college. Despite the many advan- 
tages that Venice offers to her people Anthony Sartori early began to 
cherish hopes of sometime coming to America, and this quickened his 
industry from the time he was doing odd jobs of work as a boy until 
later when he learned the shoemaking trade and thus prepared for a 
self-supporting life anywhere. 

Mr. Sartori was twenty years of age when the opportunity came 
for him to leave Italy and sail for the United States. On arriving here 
he immediately went to Hibbing, Minnesota, but shortly afterward 
accepted work in the Crockstill Mine at Chisholm, where he remained 
for ten months, then worked for five months in the Leonard Mine and 
later in the Monroe Mine. In 1908 he came to Buhl and on July 5 
of that year embarked in a grocery business in partnership with his 
brother John and his cousin, Paul Sartori, and the brothers first bought 
out the cousin's interest and in 1917 Anthony bought out his brother 
John's interest. Mr. Sartori has built up a fine business here, carries 
a large stock of standard goods and has the bulk of grocery patronage. 

While at Hibbing Mr. Sartori was married on June 15, 1912, to 
Nicolina Rosati, who was born in Italy and came to the United States 
in 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Sartori have had four children: Mary, who is 
seven years old ; Guido, who is six ; Amalia, who died when aged 
twenty-seven months ; and Amalia (2) who is aged two months. Mr. Sar- 
tori and his family belong to the Roman Catholic Church. 

On February 20, 1915. Mr. Sartori was naturalized and is an Ameri- 
can citizen. He has intelligently studied political questions and is well 
informed concerning the rights, responsibilities and privileges of Amer- 
ican citizenship, and has become an active member of the Republican 
party. He has taken much interest in the welfare of Buhl and for 
three years has served on the Library Board and encourages intellectual 
effort, being president of the Dante Alighieri Society. He is secretary 
of the Italian Political Club. 

John Olson, general mining captain of the Oliver Mines of the 
Chisholm District, is one of the practical miners of St. Louis County, 
and a man who is held in the highest esteem by all who are associated 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1041 

with him. He was born in Wermland, Sweden, January 27, 1869, a 
son of Olof and Anna (Olson) Errickson. Olof Errickson was born in 
Sweden in 1827, and was a farmer by occupation. His wife was also 
born in Sweden, in 1826, and they became the parents of eleven children, 
of whom John Olson was the ninth in order of birth. 

John Olson acquired in the public schools of his native land a train- 
ing about equivalent to that of the graded schools of this country, and 
during the summer months he assisted his father on the farm. When 
he was fifteen years old he left school and for three years devoted all 
of his time to farming. When he was eighteen he went to northern 
Sweden to work in the saw-mills, and in 1892 he emigrated to Canada, 
where he secured employment on railroad construction and in saw-mills 
for three years, and in 1895 came to the United States. He was 
naturalized in 1897, and came to the Range. At first he worked in the 
Hull Mine at Hibbing, being engaged in sinking the shaft which opened 
that mine, and then went to another mine owned by the Oliver Mining 
Company. In 1901 he was promoted by this company to be shift boss 
at the Rust Mine, and in April of that year was transferred to the 
Pillsbury Mine. In 1904 Mr. Olson was made day captain at the Clark 
Mine, and in 1909 was promoted to the position he now holds, having 
earned it through his dependability and industry. 

On May 27, 1897, Mr. Olson was married to Miss Caroline Errick- 
son at Hibbing. She was born in Sweden, but came to the United States 
when young. Mr. and Mrs. Olson became the parents of the following 
children : Elmer J. E., who is attending the University of Minnesota, 
taking a course in engineering, and during the war he belonged to the 
Students Army Training Corps ; Eveline, who is attending McAllister 
College at St. Paul, Minnesota; Everett T., who is attending Chisholm 
High School ; and Norma C, who is the youngest. 

Mr. Olson belongs to Hematite Lodge No. 274, Ancient Free and 
Accepted Masons. He is an Independent Republican in his political 
faith. The Methodist Episcopal Church has in him an active member 
and generous contributor. During the late war Mr. Olson was a zealous 
worker in the sale of Liberty Bonds, and did all in his power to aid 
the administration in carrying out its policies. He is a sound, reliable 
and hard-working man, who never shirks a responsibility or seeks to 
avoid a duty. 

John P. Johnson came to Duluth fifty years ago, when only a small 
village clustered about "the Head of the Lakes." Subsequent years have 
brought him a constantly enlarging scope of service, and that service 
has justly gained him the respect and esteem of all classes of citizens 
in St. Louis County. 

Mr. Johnson was born at Franklin, Connecticut, February 13, 1851. 
His Johnson ancestors came from England to America during Colonial 
times. His grandfather, Oliver Johnson, was a Connecticut .farmer. 
His own parents were Oliver L. and Martha (Mumford) Johnson. His 
father was born at Franklin, Connecticut, in 1823, and died in 1874. 
He was a prominent railroad man, for many years was purchasing agent 
for the New York & New Haven Railroad and a short time before he 
was retired was connected with the New Haven & Hartford Railroad. 
He was twice married, and was the father of thirteen children, ten of 
whom are still living. He was a Republican in politics, one time a 
member of the Connecticut Legislature, and a member of the Congre- 
gational Church. 

John P. Johnson completed the course in an academy of his native 



1042 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

town in 1869, and a few months later, in 1870, arrived at Duluth, 
destined to be his permanent home and the scene of his mature career. 
The first season he was in the employ of the Lake Superior & Missis- 
sippi Railroad Company, the first railroad entering Duluth. He then 
found employment as bookkeeper with a fellow townsman from Con- 
necticut, E. L. Smith, and from 1878 to 1880 succeeded Mr. Smith in 
the management of this local meat business. Mr. Johnson first came into 
prominence in local affairs when he was elected in 1880 as treasurer 
of St. Louis County. He was chosen as a Republican, and kept in office 
by repeated elections until 1890. On retiring from office he engaged in 
the insurance business and acquired a large following in that line. In 
1900 he was elected clerk of the District Court of the Eleventh District, 
and is now finishing his twentieth consecutive year in the duties of that 
office. At different times he has also served as city alderman, and has 
had some business interests aside from those already mentioned. 

Mr. Johnson is one of the oldest and most prominent Masons in 
Duluth and for twenty-five years has been treasurer of four Masonic 
bodies represented in the city. He is affiliated with Palestine Lodge 
No. 79, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Keystone Chapter No. 20, 
Royal Arch Masons, Duluth Commandery No. 18, Knights Templar, 
Duluth Council No. 6, Royal and Select Masons, is a member of the 
Scottish Rite bodies and also of the honorary thirty-third degree and the 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine and the Eastern Star. He is affiliated 
also with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Duluth Commercial 
Club, and was a charter member of the first Congregational Church 
organized in Duluth, and has been instrumental in promoting the inter- 
ests of his church and the building of several houses of worship in 
the city. 

In 1874 Mr. Johnson married Miss Catherine C. Smith. They have 
two children : Earl E. and Robert E. 

Fred H. Lounsberry is founder and sole owner of F. H. Louns- 
berry & Company, one of the largest printing industries of St. Louis 
County. The company has not only a plant with every equipment for 
general printing and publishing, but also for other printing processes 
and manufacture practically all the type used in the business. 

Mr. Lounsberry was born at Minneapolis and is a son of Col. C. A. 
Lounsberry, a veteran editor and newspaper man still living, at the age 
of seventy-eight. Colonel Lounsberry was founder of the Duluth Daily 
News, now merged in the News-Tribune. Fred H. Lounsberry was 
fourth in a family of five children. He has lived in Duluth since 1887, 
and for a time was employed by his father on the Duluth Journal and 
later with the Duluth Herald, being connected with its job printing 
department from 1888 to 1892. In 1898 he became one of the founders 
of the printing firm of Peachey & Lounsberry, which has since been 
succeeded by F. H. Lounsberry & Company, of which he is sole owner. 
Mr. Lounsberry is married, and his family consists of his wife and two 
daughters. He is a Scottish Rite and Knight Templar Mason and a 
member of the First Presbyterian Church at Duluth. 

Arthur P. Silliman, who helped survey the original townsite of 
Hibbing and has been one of the most generous and public spirited 
citizens of that rich and populous community, has to his credit experi- 
ences and achievements as a mining engineer and business man that 
will for all time link his name closely with the history of the Iron Range 
country of the north. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1043 

A native of Minnesota, a product of the best universities and a tech- 
nical school, Mr. Silliman was well equipped for the arduous responsi- 
bilities that awaited him in the development of the Iron Ranges. He 
was born at Minneapolis, March 31, 1868. His ancestry was old Con- 
necticut Yankee stock. His father, Dwight Silliman, a native of New 
York, graduated from the New York College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons and the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, and was 
likewise a pioneer of his profession in the northwest. He practiced a 
few years at Minneapolis and thereafter for over forty years enjoyed 
the honors and responsibilities of a successful physician at Hudson, 
Wisconsin. He died in 1919. His wife, Marietta Parks, who died in 
1887, was a native of Victor, New York. They are survived by five 
children. 

Arthur P. Silliman graduated from high school at Hudson, Wiscon- 
sin. Following the regular course, the University of Wisconsin gave 
him the degree of Bachelor of Letters in 1890, and his technical studies 
were pursued in the Michigan School of Mines at Houghton. 

Returning to Minnesota, Mr. Silliman made his first visit to what is 
now Hibbing in 1893. The townsite had been laid out by Captain 
Hibbing the previous year, but the survey was completed by 
Mr. Silliman. While Mr. Silliman was working with his instruments the 
only building in the vicinity was a log house which was not included 
within the lines of the townsite, and he therefore saw the community 
without a single improvement of development. Practically the entire 
region was covered with a dense growth of pine trees. 

After this work as townsite surveyor Mr. Silliman entered the service 
of the New York & Mesaba Iron Company, the predecessor of the Lake 
Superior Consolidated Iron Mines, in the capacity of engineer. During 
the panic beginning in the fall of 1893 he and all employes were glad to 
accept New York Clearing House certificates in lieu of money. Mr. 
Silliman, in November, 1893, went to Mountain Iron as engineer and 
chemist for the Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines, which in the 
meantime had passed under the control of the Rockefellers. About this 
time Mr. Silliman acquired a financial interest in the company, doing 
this contrary to the advice of his friends. Subsequent events proved the 
wisdom of his course. 

Mr. Silliman was a resident of Mountain Iron until the spring of 1899, 
and after six months at Iron River, Michigan, returned to Minnesota in 
the fall of that year in the employ of the Minnesota Iron Company at 
the Genoa and Elba Mines. He was so occupied until April 1, 1900, 
when he established an independent office as a mining engineer at 
Hibbing. 

During the past twenty years Mr. Silliman has been identified as a 
technical expert and adviser with nearly every important mine on the 
Range. He was one of the original incorporators of the Pearson 
Mining Company, operating the Pearson Mine at Nashwauk and the 
Morrow Mine at Eveleth. He was the active director of the A. P. 
Silliman Exploration Company during its extensive drilling operations 
carried on from 1906 to 1915. 

On December 26, 1901, Mr. Silliman married Miss Emma Arnold, 
of Mankato, Minnesota, daughter of Adam and Christine (Margraf) 
Arnold. Adam Arnold was born in Germany and came to the United 
States about the same time as Carl Schurz. He had become involved in 
the efforts to establish a republican form of government in Germany, 
and had to suffer practically exile from his native land. The liberal 
spirit, the thrift and enterprise which Germany lost in the emigration 

Vol. Ill — 8 



1044 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

of such citizens were contributed to the American states, and Adam 
Arnold was one of our most exemplary citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Silliman 
had five children: Thomas A., Paul D., Frances E., Mary W., and 
Arthur P., Jr. 

With an unbounded faith in the future of Hibbing and surrounding 
territory, Mr. Silliman has never hesitated to invest in local real estate. 
From property he personally owned he laid out in 1906 the townsite of 
Brooklyn, adjoining Hibbing, containing forty acres. The entire area 
was then covered with timber. This was the first addition, and in 1909 
he platted another forty acres, comprising a second addition, and soon 
afterward both additions were incorporated in the village of Hibbing, 
and the recent census gave those additions a population of 2,132. In this 
enterprise Mr. Silliman did not follow the usual methods prevailing in a 
real estate subdivision. In its native condition the land was partly 
swamp and partly covered with heavy timber. The timber was cleared 
away, the low ground drained, and Mr. Silliman expended a large 
amount of capital in laying out and constructing permanent streets and 
installing municipal facilities, including a thoroughly modern water and 
electric plant. While thus building solidly for the future, he had his. 
foresight and investment substantially rewarded. He has been generous 
of time and means to promote all public improvements. He was a 
member of the first park board for the village of Hibbing, and assisted 
in acquiring the ground that now comprises the two beautiful parks. 
During his residence at Mountain Iron he served five years as a member 
of the School Board and performed a similar service at Hibbing five 
years. He has been supervisor of Stuntz township, and is now a 
member of the County W r ork Farm Board and the State Land Improve- 
ment Board. He is a life member of the American Institute of Mining 
Engineers, also the Lake Superior Institute of Mining Engineers, is 
president of the Northern Minnesota Development Association and 
president of the St. Louis County Club. During the war he largely 
neglected his extensive business interests to give his time as chairman of 
the War Savings Stamps Committee for Hibbing district, and other 
patriotic causes. Mr. Silliman is independent in politics, is a Scottish 
Rite Mason and Mystic Shriner, trustee of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, diocese of Duluth, and is senior warden of Christ Episcopal 
Church of Hibbing. 

Peter Wall, who is now living retired at Chisholm, is one of the 
splendid examples of what the foreign-born American can accomplish 
when he brings to this country a willingness to work and gives in return 
for the advantages offered him a loyal and sincere service. Mr. Wall 
came here a stranger, with but little knowledge of the language, but he has 
prospered, and at the same time earned the confidence and respect of those 
with whom he has been associated. 

The birth of Peter Wall occurred in Finland, March 30, 1875. He is 
a son of Gust Wall, also born in Finland, in 1842, who was a miller by 
trade. The mother of Peter Wall was born in 1840 and was a native of 
Finland. The parents had eight children, of whom Peter was the fifth in 
order of birth, and of them four are still living. 

When he was fifteen years old Peter Wall began to attend a technical 
school at night, and during the three years that he studied in this school 
he learned the trade of a baker, and while he was doing this he was assist- 
ing his father in his flour-mill. When he was nineteen years old Peter 
Wall went to work as a baker, and later bought a business of his own 
and conducted it for five years. In 1902 he became a resident of Chis- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1045 

holm, Minnesota, and while he was working as a diamond drill helper for 
the Longyear Drilling Company he conducted a small boarding house he 
had bought. After eighteen months of this double work he decided to 
give it up and attend school so as to gain a working knowledge of the 
American language, and for one winter went to school. Feeling thus 
better prepared to meet the public, he established himself in a bakery 
business and conducted it very successfully until he sold it January 1, 
1920, disposing of the business and the building in which his shop was 
located, and which he had erected for that purpose. 

During the great war Mr. Wall had charge of the flour distribution 
among the bakers, restaurants and hotels of Chisholm, and rendered the 
Government a very efficient service in this capacity. In politics he is an 
independent Republican. Fraternally he belong to Chisholm Lodge No. 
1334, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The Lutheran Church 
has in him a faithful member. 

On March 14, 1897, Mr. Wall was married to Fannie Rauhala, also a 
native of Finland. They have the following children: Jennie E., Arney 
P., Sulo G., George A., Helen T. and Frederick T. 

C. R. Magney. The mayor and executive head of the municipal gov- 
ernment of Duluth from 1917 until 1920 was C. R. Magney, who for about 
ten years preceding his election to this post was a successful young lawyer 
of the Duluth bar. He resigned as mayor September 15, 1920, and was 
elected judge of the District Court in November, 1920, for a term of 
six years. 

Mr. Magney was born January 11, 1883, in the town of Trenton, 
Pierce County, Wisconsin. His father, Rev. Jonas Magney, was a native 
of Sweden and was brought to America in 1858 by his parents, who 
located at Center City, Minnesota, on a farm. Jonas Magney prepared 
himself for the profession of the ministry in the Lutheran Church, and 
made that his life occupation. He was a church builder, organizer and 
preacher at many points in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He died in 
Minnesota in 1910. 

C. R. Magney is the eldest in a family of five children, all of whom 
are still living. He acquired his early education in the public schools of 
South Stillwater, Minnesota, and took his literary course in Gustavus 
Adolphus College at St. Peter, where he graduated A. B. in 1903. He 
followed that by a law course in Harvard University, from which he holds 
the degree LL. B. granted him in 1908. His work as a lawyer brought 
him rapid advancement and favorable recognition in Duluth, and on 
April 3, 1917, two weeks before America entered war with Germany, he 
was elected to the post of mayor. He gave a vigorous administration of 
municipal affairs throughout the critical period of the war, and showed 
every qualification for heading the government of one of the best cities 
in the northwest. 

Mr. Magney is a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church of Duluth. 
On April 26, 1911, he married Miss Lillian C. Lundgren, whose parents 
were natives of Sweden. They have one son, John. 

. Selmer M. Johnson, M. D., is a competent and skilled physician and 
surgeon whose work for nearly ten years has been identified with the 
Buhl community, where he is a member of the staff of the Shaw 
Hospital and otherwise actively associated with the senior physician at 
Buhl, Dr. A. W. Shaw. Dr. Johnson saw service with the American 
Expeditionary Forces in France and was absent from Buhl with the army 
nearly a year. 



1046 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

He was born at New Richland. Minnesota, October 1, 1884. His 
father, Carl Johnson, was born in Norway in 1852, and was less than a 
year old when brought to America. He is, therefore, in all important 
respects a complete American. He has followed an active career as a 
merchant. Carl Johnson married in 1877, and his wife was born in 
Wisconsin in 1860, of Norwegian ancestry, and she died in 1898. 

Dr. Johnson was the fourth in a family of twelve children, eight of 
whom reached mature years. He acquired his early education in the 
common schools of New Richland, graduated from the high school there 
in 1904, following which he spent one year in St. Olaf College at North- 
field. Minnesota, and then began his medical studies in the University 
of Minnesota. He was in the University Medical School four years, 
graduating in 1909. The following year he served as an interne in the 
hospital at Minneapolis, then for a few months engaged in a general 
practice at Davenport, North Dakota, and later at Menomonie, Wiscon- 
sin, but in March, 1911, began his long association which has continued 
practically ten years with Dr. Shaw at Buhl. 

In September, 1915, Dr. Johnson married Miss Louise de Haas, who 
was born in St. Paul of German-Swiss ancestry. The three children of 
their marriage are Selmer M. and Charles Frederick, twins, born Mav 21, 

1916, and Helen Louise, born April 6, 1920. 

It was on June 6, 1918, that Dr. Johnson was enrolled and received his 
commission as first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps. On August 
1, 1918, he was sent for training to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, remained 
there six weeks, and then went overseas as a casual. On reaching France 
he was attached to the 103rd Ammunition Train of the 28th Division, and 
it was with that body of the Expeditionary forces that he saw his real 
service during the Meuse-Argonne campaign. In April following the 
signing of the armistice he was transferred to the 539th Engineers, and 
with that contingent returned to America, reaching our shores June 30, 
1919. He received his honorable discharge from service July 15th at 
Camp Dodge, Iowa, and a day or so later resumed his active association 
with Dr. Shaw at Buhl. 

Dr. Johnson is a member of the St. Louis County and State Medical 
Societies, the American Medical Association, is an independent in politics 
and is affiliated with Hematite Lodge No. 274 of the Masonic Order. In 

1917. in 1919 and again in 1920 he was elected a member of the Buhl 
School Board. 

Emanuel A. Swanstrom, a prominent Duluth real estate man, mem- 
ber of the firm of Swanstrom Brothers, is a son of the late Emanuel G. 
Swanstrom, a Duluth pioneer, who for many years was one of the 
strongest and ablest men in the northern country. 

Emanuel G. Swanstrom was born in Sweden and came to America in 
1854, and for a year or so was employed in labor in Chisago County and 
located at Duluth in 1856, when the city was in the first stages of its 
growth and development. He rose above his early circumstances as a 
common laborer, and in the early seventies engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness at Oneota, and for sixteen years served as county commissioner. 
President Arthur appointed him receiver of the Land Office. He also 
represented the county in both the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, and had the distinction of introducing many bills in both Houses, 
and on good authority it is said he never lost a measure he proposed. His 
associates in the Legislature and in his community recognize his sterling 
judgment and integrity, and the depth of sincere interest he manifested in 
everything pertaining to the welfare of northern Minnesota. He bgan 



ASTOR, ' ?NOX 
I TILDEN FOU: 





:/>4^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1047 

life with little education, developed his own resources, and many promi- 
nent men took pride in his acquaintance. He was prominent in politics, 
casting his first vote in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln, and helped support 
the Republican party in local and state and national affairs. He was a 
member of the Lutheran Church. Emanuel G. Swanstrom married Jennie 
L. Abbott, and of their seven children six are still living. 

Fifth among them is Emanuel A. Swanstrom, who was born at Duluth 
January 26, 1878. He acquired his education in the public schools of his 
native city, and when about eighteen years of age went -to work as a 
stenographer for the Duluth-Mesaba Railway. He was with the railroad 
for about a year and later for about eight years was bookkeeper and 
stenographer for the Amenia Elevator Company. Mr. Swanstrom 
embarked in the real estate business in 1908, forming a partnership with 
his brother, A. F. Swanstrom, under the name Swanstrom Brothers. 
They have perfected an organization that has handled many large and 
important deals in real estate both in Duluth and surrounding territory. 

Mr. Swanstrom is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and 
Shriner and a member of the Elks Lodge. August 3, 1904, he married 
Miss Tillie C. Knudsen. They have one daughter, Verena M. L. 
Swanstrom, born November 26, 1912. 

James Hart. An example of determination, ambition and industry 
culminating in the acquirement of success and position is found in the 
career of James Hart, president of the Duluth Ice Company. Mr. Hart 
was possessed of only ordinary public school advantages when he started 
life on his own account, and his rise has been solely due to his own 
efforts and abilities. His rise from mine-boy to man of large business 
affairs has bridged a wide gap, and in this bridging he has taken advan- 
tage of only strictly legitimate opportunities. 

Mr. Hart was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, November 18, 
1861. a son of James Hart, also a native of Canada, who brought his 
family to the United States in 1864, at that time settling in the Upper 
Peninsula of Michigan, where he engaged in teaming and contracting. 
Subsequently he removed to Duluth in 1889, and followed the same 
lines of business until his death in 1906. He and his wife were the 
parents of eleven children, of whom James Hart, the younger, was the 
fourth in order of birth. He attended the public schools of Michigan 
until he reached the age of thirteen years, and at that time secured 
employment in the Calumet and later in the Hecla Mines, being thus 
employed until he reached the age of twenty-one years. He was next 
employed by Briggs & Cole, of Calumet, in the mining business, remaining 
with that concern five years, and in 1889 accompanied the family to 
Duluth, which has since been his home and the scene of his successful 
business ventures. In 1909 Mr. Hart became the founder and organizer 
of the Duluth Ice and Fuel Company, of which he was made president, 
the company starting its activities by handling lake ice, with a large plant 
located on Spirit Lake. This furnished sufficient product for the com- 
pany's customers for seven years, but the advent of the United States 
Steel Corporation's plant, with its great number of employes, in 1916 
increased the company's field of operation, and Mr. Hart accordingly 
found it necessary to increase in proportion his output. Accordingly he 
erected a large artificial ice plant at First avenue and East Buchanan, this 
having a capacity of approximately 100 tons a day. The office is located 
at No. Ill East Superior street. In connection with the ice business 
Mr. Hart carries on a coal business, selling the best brands, including 
Premium Anthracite and other noted brands of hard coal. He has like- 



1048 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

wise been identified with various other business industries of Duluth and 
was the incorporator of the Hart Transfer and Storage Company, of 
which he is president. 

Mr. Hart has a number of important civic connections and is affiliated 
with several fraternities. In all avenues of life's activity he has been 
found reliable and trustworthy, and in the long list of those whose confi- 
dence and esteem he has secured there are to be found numerous warm 
and appreciative friends. 

Mr. Hart was married on the 3rd of June, 1884, to Kate C. Rogan, a 
native of New Jersey. Their five children, all living, are : James J., Rose 
D., Edward L., Mary J., and Albert S., the boys being associated with 
their father. 

James P. Vaughan. The schools of Chisholm are in keeping with 
the progress of the time in the Range country of northern Minnesota. 
A maxim of the "Range" is "the best is not too good." With wealth at 
its command, the public of Chisholm has demanded the best at the hands 
of its officials and secured it. Acting upon this the school authorities 
looked about to secure the services of an educator of national fame and 
the highest scholarly attainments, and found that their exacting require- 
ments were realized in James P. Vaughan, to whom they offered the 
superintendency of their schools. The fact that his services have been 
retained through a period of years proves that he has measured up to 
the ideals of the people, and that here he has found congenial and 
stimulating surroundings and conditions. 

James P. Vaughan was born at Eyota, Minnesota, February 22, 1882, 
a son of Daniel and Catherine (Madden) Vaughan, the former being a 
farmer of Olmstead County, Minnesota. One of nine children, Mr. 
Vaughan was brought up to make himself useful on the home farm, but 
at the same time was given opportunity to attend the public schools of 
his neighborhood. His naturally strong mentality was not satisfied with 
the instruction furnished him, and he also had ambitions which reached 
out beyond the confines of a farming community, and so in 1898 he went 
to Winona, Minnesota, and took a course in the State Normal School, 
from which he was graduated in 1902, and during this time did high 
school work at the normal school. 

For two years Mr. Vaughan was principal of the schools at North 
Branch, Minnesota, and then attended the University of Wisconsin at 
Madison, from which he was graduated in 1907 with the degree of 
Bachelor of Philosophy, and at the same time he did considerable work 
toward a Master's degree. In 1907 he came to Chisholm to assume 
charge of the schools, and has since retained that responsible position, 
and under his fostering care they have been built up until they compare 
favorably with similar institutions in any community no matter what its 
size. Mr. Vaughan belongs to the Kiwanis Club, of which at its organiza- 
tion in 1920 he was elected the first president. He belongs to the Phi 
Beta Kappa college fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks. Mr. Vaughan has turned his talents into literary channels and is 
the author of a monograph on "Educational Democracy," and has long 
been a valued contributor to the educational press. He belongs to the 
Minnesota State Educational Association, and has frequently made public 
addresses on educational subjects. 

In 1917 he was married to Miss Leathe Wright, of Rensselaer, Indi- 
ana. Mr. Vaughan has always held that a sound education strengthens 
the moral consciousness and tempers the soul for life. In all of his work 
and writings he has had a distinct impulse toward the humanities, and 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1049 

has been an inspiration among his pupils for activities of the best sort. 
He has awakened in their hearts the creative joy of good work and 
started more than one of them on the highway to fame and fortune. 

Byron H. Graham. Just a year after the great forest fire that 
destroyed the village of Chisholm Byron H. Graham became a citizen 
of the community, and has since developed and carried on an extensive 
business as an electrical contractor and dealer in electrical supplies. 

Mr. Graham was born at Marshall, Minnesota, November 23, 1881. 
Both his parents are of Scotch ancestry. His father, Alexander Graham, 
was born in Wisconsin November 13, 1842, and his mother lived to the 
remarkable age of a hundred and one years, having been born in 1813 
and dying in 1914. In 1866 Alexander Graham married Margaret Hale, 
who was born in Illinois in May, 1846. Both are still living. Alexander 
Graham came to Minnesota with an ox team before railroads were con- 
structed through the northwest, spent a long and active life as a farmer 
but is now retired. 

Byron H. Graham acquired a substantial education at Brainerd, 
Minnesota, graduating from the high school there in 1898. For one 
term he taught in a country school near Brainerd, worked eight months 
in a grocery store, at the end of which time he and his brother Orton 
bought out the store and conducted it as a partnership proposition for 
two years. Mr. Graham's next venture was the establishment of a livery 
business, and this was continued about two years. On retiring from that 
business he spent perhaps a year in travel over the different states, and 
in 1905 first engaged in the electrical business at Staples, Minnesota. 
He was there two years, and in September, 1909, arrived at Chisholm and 
has had a busy part in the general building program and in supplying a 
general electrical contracting service to this community. 

Mr. Graham wherever he has lived has shown a keen interest in 
iocal affairs and his good citizenship has been especially pronounced at 
Chisholm. He served some time as village recorder, in 1916-17 and 
1917-18, was village trustee in 1915-16, and is now a member of the 
Water and Light Board. During the World war he was chief of draft 
registration and a member of the Draft Advisory Board. Mr. Graham 
in politics is classified as an independent Democrat. He is much inter- 
ested in athletics, particularly baseball, and has been identified in an 
official way with the Chisholm Baseball Club and at one time was its 
president. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Com- 
mercial Club, is present exalted ruler of Lodge No. 1334 of the Elks, 
being a charter member of that lodge, and is affiliated with Chisholm 
Lodge No. 179, Knights of Pythias, Hematite Lodge No. 274, Accepted 
Free and Ancient Masons, Duluth Scottish Rite Consistory and Aad 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Duluth. 

Mr. Graham married Miss Bessie Mackaman, who was born at Shel- 
don, Iowa, in October, 1882. Their six children are named lone, Donald, 
Inez, Bessie, William and Margaret. 

Thomas J. Murphy. The mining interests of the Mesaba Range 
are so important as to demand the best efforts of some of the most com- 
petent mining experts of the country, and one of them worthy of special 
mention is Thomas J. Murphy, mining captain for the Oliver Mines at 
Buhl. He was born in Cumberland, England, May 20, 1859, a son of 
Thomas and Mary (Drake) Murphy, natives of Ireland, who were mar- 
ried in England, and became the parents of five children, of whom 



1050 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Thomas J. was the youngest. Thomas Murphy was a miner, and was 
engaged in that line of work at Cumberland for a number of years. 

Thomas J. Murphy has received the greater portion of his educational 
training in the stern school of practical experience. When only twelve 
years old he started to work in a mill, and did odd jobs, being thus 
employed until he was twenty years old. At that time he went into 
the mines as a miner's helper, and two years later took a partner and 
became a full-fledged miner, working as such in England until 1884, 
when he came to the United States, and for about a year thereafter 
worked on the New York, New England & Hartford Railroad. Mr. Mur- 
phy then came as far west as Michigan and found employment in the old 
Puritan iron mine at Vassar, working there as a miner for about a 
year. He then went to the Tontene Mine, now called the Federal Mine, 
and a year later left it to go to the Wakefield Mine, both of which are 
near Vassar. He then went to Ironwood, Michigan, as a miner in the 
Ashland Mine, and was connected with it, the Big Norrie and the First 
National from 1890 to 1893, following which he worked in the coal 
mines of Iowa for about a year. In 1895 he went to Virginia, Minne- 
sota, and found employment in the old Victoria Mine "test piting." Six 
months later he went to the Franklin Mine, and worked as a miner for 
a year, leaving it to work for a few months in the Commodore Mine. His 
next employment was in the Mesaba Mountain Pit as a driller, all of 
the work in those days being done by hand, and he spent a part of 
the summer there. He then went to Arizona and worked as a miner 
and explorer in the following gold mines : Old Senator, the Crook Canon 
and the Chicago, spending about a year in this work, and then returning, 
in 1898, to Eveleth, Minnesota, to work in the Adams Mine as a miner 
and later a shift boss, continuing with this mine for about thirteen 
years. Once more he went to Virginia, Minnesota, and was night captain 
of the Alpena Mine for about two years, leaving it to come to Buhl and 
assisted in opening the Oliver Mines, of which he is captain. 

Mr. Murphy is one of the progressive men of Buhl and has been 
treasurer of the Mesaba Mountain township, and is a member of the 
Buhl Library Board. In politics he is an independent Republican. A 
Catholic, he is active in church work, and belongs to the Knights of 
Columbus of Virginia. During the late war he was collector for the 
Young Men's Christian Association and the Knights of Columbus. 

On January 15, 1889, Mr. Murphy was married in England to Miss 
Ellen Cavenaugh, who was born in Ireland. After her husband had 
made a home for. her Mrs. Murphy followed him to the United States, 
arriving here in 1891. Their children are as follows: Mary, who is a 
graduate nurse at the City and County Hospital at St. Paul, Minnesota; 
Margaret, who has charge of the supply room of the Buhl High School ; 
Gregory J., who is a veteran of the great war, having served overseas, 
and is now a sergeant of police at Buhl ; James, who is also a veteran of 
the great war. and is a professional ball player in the summer and a 
hanker in the winter ; Dennis, who was in the army during the great war, 
is a graduate of Hibbing College and now attending the University of 
Wisconsin : and William, Emmett, Doroth and Katherine, all of whom 
are attending school. 

Benjamin E. Baker. The monotony which often ensues from the 
following of any single line of endeavor has never been a feature of the 
career of Benjamin E. Baker. His life has been one of varied activities 
in various parts of the country, and while his chief attention at this 
time is devoted to the grain commission business at Duluth, he is inter- 
ested also in various other enterprises. 



ASTf 





fet^ZJl 0<^*^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1051 

Mr. Baker was born at Dover, Olmsted County, Minnesota, June 20, 
1868. His father, Ezekiel Porter Baker, was a native of Maine, who 
with four brothers came to Minnesota in the fall of 1861. He and one 
brother enlisted in the Union army during the Civil war, and Ezekiel P. 
Baker served more than three years. For a time he was engaged in the 
grain business with his brothers at Winona, but later turned his atten- 
tion to farming in Olmsted County, where he also conducted a pork- 
packing business. One of two children, Benjamin E. Baker was reared 
and educated at Winona. His early life was adventurous and somewhat 
typical of the red-blooded youth of the land, for when he was but fifteen 
years of age he ran away from home and secured employment with the 
Diamond Joe Steamship Line on the Mississippi River. Later he went 
to South Dakota, where he took up a homestead, but his experience there 
was anything but a happy one, and after two years, during which he 
nearly starved on several occasions, he sold out for a small sum. 
Mr. Baker then went to Mankota, Minnesota, where he worked for the 
Standard Oil Company, and then for a time was a resident of St. Paul. 
In the fall of 1890 he came to Duluth, and this city has continued to be 
his home. 

Upon locating at Duluth Mr. Baker embarked in the real estate busi- 
ness, and in 1894 became a member of the Board of Trade and has since 
been in the grain commission business. During his career he has had 
confidence in his own judgment and the willingness to back that judg- 
ment, and this has at times made his operations somewhat spectacular, 
with the result that he has made and lost several sizeable fortunes. One 
of his most successful ventures was an investment in the oil fields of 
Louisiana. He induced nine of his friends to go in with him, each 
putting up $5,000, and while before that time he had never seen an oil 
derrick in his life, after two years in the oil fields he returned to Duluth 
with winnings of something like $300,000. Other enterprises have bene- 
fited by his identification with them. A large factor in Mr. Baker's suc- 
cess may be said to be his capacity for making and keeping friends. Of 
a jovial and generous nature, he loves his home, his family and his 
friends, and this love is his real life. 

In 1894 he married Miss Clara Dewey, of St. Paul, whose father was 
a second cousin of Admiral George Dewey. Three children have been 
born to this union: Philip, who served as a flying ensign in the dirigible 
service under Admiral Sims in the World war; James, who was a second 
lieutenant aerial gunner in that struggle ; and Dorothy, who studied for 
a nurse but was denied the privilege of going overseas. The boys 
enlisted while students at Yale. 

George Lerch. The Lerch Brothers came to the Mesaba Range in 
its infancy. Virginia had then about eight houses ; Hibbing had not yet 
been born. They are chemists and their services were in demand as the 
various mines came into being. Becoming contractors, they engaged to 
do the chemical work for the companies engaged in developing these 
mining properties. From a humble beginning they have become pros- 
perous, their success being undoubtedly enhanced by the fact that they 
are masters of their profession. Today they have some thirteen different 
laboratories and employ about eighty men. It is said that the Lerch 
Brothers are the largest independent chemists in the world. They have 
participated in the constructive work of this region and have seen Vir- 
ginia and Hibbing grow into flourishing little cities where are centered 
some of the most important mining properties in northern Minnesota. 
When they came to the Range the utmost pioneer conditions prevailed. 



1052 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

and they, like the others of that period, had to endure the hardships 
incident to frontier life and because of them they can all the more appre- 
ciate the comforts and luxuries of today. 

George Lerch was born at Easton, Pennsylvania, August 22, 1865, a 
son of David and Sarah (Young) Lerch, both of Pennsylvania, and of 
Dutch ancestry. . By occupation David Lerch was a contractor, and dur- 
ing the war between the north and the south he served as a soldier of 
the Union army. His death occurred in 1910, when he was eighty-nine 
years of age. 

Growing up in his native place, George Lerch completed its high 
school course in 1885, and then matriculated at Lafayette College and 
was graduated therefrom as a chemical engineer in 1889. He began his 
professional career as chemist for the Bethlehem Steel Company at 
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and continued with that company until 1892, 
when he came west to Virginia, Minnesota, and with his brother, Fred 
Lerch, embarked as an independent chemist. From Virginia he came 
to Hibbing in 1895. It was in this year that the Mahoning Mine was 
opened, and the Lerch Brothers have continued to be its chemists. In 
addition to attending to all of the chemical work for the Mahoning Mine, 
these brothers are doing similar work for eighty other mines, and their 
business is all conducted under contract. 

When Fred Lerch first walked into what is now Hibbing there was 
scarcely a building in the town. When George Lerch came here it was 
but a very small place with no public improvements. On the present site 
of the Mahoning, Hull-Rusk and other mines a dense forest stood, all 
of which has since been cleared away. George Lerch has confined his 
labors strictly to his business and rarely if ever mixes in politics except 
to exercise his right of franchise. He helped to organize the Presby- 
terian Church at Virginia and also the one of that denomination at Hib- 
bing. He is a Royal Arch and thirty-second degree Mason and belongs 
to the Mystic Shrine. He is a charter member of Mesaba Lodge No. 255, 
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and he belongs to the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks. 

On December 17, 1898, Mr. Lerch was married to Miss Fannie Mar- 
vin, a daughter of Luke A. Marvin, of Duluth, Minnesota. The Marvins 
were the fourth family to locate at what is now Duluth. 

I. K. Lewis. A Duluth lawyer whose attainments have brought him 
some prominent associations and a large amount of business in his pro- 
fession, I. K. Lewis spent his early life largely on a Wisconsin farm, 
but was thoroughly equipped and liberally educated in preparation for 
his professional career. 

He was born October 6, 1880, son of James and Margaret Lewis, both 
of Welsh ancestry and nativity. James Lewis came from Wales to Amer- 
ica in 1867, and became a successful farmer in Monroe County, Wis- 
consin. He is still living, at the age of eighty-five, at Nashotah, Wiscon- 
sin. His life record has many things to commend it. In business he was 
first and last a good farmer, knew how to till the soil and manage his 
affairs, and at one time had about four hundred and forty acres under 
his management, producing both stock and grain. He has been a Repub- 
lican in politics, a member of the Congregational Church and among his 
personal characteristics were two which might be mentioned : One being 
to pay his bills promptly, and the other an intense desire and habit of 
giving absolutely a square deal to everyone. He was the father of nine 
children, five of whom are living today, the Duluth lawyer being next to 
the youngest. His mother, Margaret Lewis, was the youngest daughter 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1053 

of a well-to-do farmer of Carnarvonshire, Wales. She possessed much 
of the native ability and independent spirit of her race, and was untiring 
in her labors for her family and in her efforts to build into the char- 
acter of her children a high regard for integrity and industry. 

I. K. Lewis spent his early life on his father's farm, attended the 
country schools at Herseyville in Monroe County, also a village school 
at Bangor, Wisconsin, and graduated from high school at Sparta. His 
literary education was completed when he was graduated with the A. B. 
degree from Beloit College at Beloit, Wisconsin. He acquired his pro- 
fessional training in Harvard Law School, which gave him his LL. B. 
degree. Mr. Lewis came to Duluth in 1909 and has been busily engaged 
in law practice ever since. He started as law clerk in the firm of 
Washburn, Bailey & Mitchell. About a year later he formed a law 
partnership with Howard T. Abbott and E. B. Merrill under the firm 
name of Abbott, Merrill & Lewis. Mr. Merrill withdrew from the firm 
about three years later, and two others who came into the partnership 
were E. W. MacPherran and George M. Gilbert, changing the firm name 
to Abbott, MacPherran, Lewis & Gilbert. Mr. Lewis continued a member 
of that firm until November 1, 1917, at which time he withdrew to con- 
duct his own practice, and from that date until January 1, 1921. he 
practiced alone with offices in the Lonsdale Building. On January 1, 
1921, he organized the firm of Lewis and Hunt by forming a partner- 
ship with Rolls F. Hunt, a friend from law school days. The firm is 
engaged in general practice, involving also much insurance and corpora- 
tion law, with offices at 800 Lonsdale Building. Mr. Lewis has been and 
is associated with a number of business enterprises in Duluth. 

He is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Order of Elks, belongs 
to the Young Men's Christian Association, Commercial Club, Boat Club, 
Kitchi Gammi Club and Kiwanis Club, is independent in politics with a 
Republican leaning, and for several years has been prominent in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, serving as class leader and superintendent 
of the Sunday School and president of the Men's Club. During the 
World war he served as a "Four Minute Man," and as a member of the 
Minnesota Home Guards. 

On October 6, 1914, at Elgin, Illinois, Mr. Lewis married Berenice 
Ella Wright, daughter of John A. and Frances Ella Wright. Mrs. Lewis 
was educated in the public schools of Elgin, and was graduated from 
Emerson College at Boston. Since her marriage she has enjoyed many 
social activities and community responsibilities in Duluth, being a worker 
in the Young Women's Christian Association, the Camp Fire Girls, and 
had charge of one of the Red Cross Circles for French relief during the 
World war. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have two children : Margaret, born 
December 3, 1915, and John Wright, born October 20, 1918. 

The Washington Junior High School is located on Lake avenue 
and Third street. It is one of the most modern high school buildings in 
the northwest. It is a block in length and has two large wings. 

The Junior High School includes the seventh, eighth and ninth grades 
and offers a wide range of subjects. The course of study includes the 
academic subjects, English, history, mathematics, geography, French and 
Latin ; the commercial subjects of bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic, 
stenography and typewriting; the art subjects of drawing, design, paint- 
ing, lettering, art history, art appreciation, metalry, jewelry, pottery, 
basketry and weaving. Music is required in all grades. An orchestra 
of thirty pieces and boys' and girls' choruses have been organized. 



1054 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

The principal at the present time is Mr. A. M. Santee. He was born 
at Oswego, Kansas, and was the only son of six children. When about 
ten years of age his parents moved to Princeville, Illinois, where he 
attended the upper grades and high school. He is a graduate of the 
Illinois State Normal University, also of the University of Illinois, from 
which school he received the A. B. and A. M. degrees. For four years 
he was superintendent of public schools at Ipava, Illinois, and for six 
years superintendent at Virginia, Illinois. He then re-entered the Uni- 
versity of Illinois in the graduate school and was elected assistant in the 
Department of Education. While there he became deeply interested in 
junior high school work, and out of this interest and his many qualifica- 
tions followed his employment at Duluth. 

The manual training shops are extensive and well equipped courses are 
offered in wood-working, wood-turning, pattern making, forge foundry, 
sheet metal, machine wood-working, machine shop, printing, electricity, 
mechanical drawing and automobile repairing. The Home Training 
department offers courses in physiology and home nursing, textiles, house- 
hold management, dressmaking, foods and cookery, household science 
and millinery. 

Pupils from Central High School who elect art, manual training or 
home training come to this building for their work in these subjects. 

Some of the outstanding features of the Junior High School are 
departmental work, promotion by subjects, division of pupils into classes 
of about equal ability and opportunity for shop and home training work. 

Oscar B. Bjorge is chief engineer and secretary of the Clyde Iron 
Works, one of the largest iron working plants in the Duluth district and 
one of the largest firms in the country manufacturing machinery for 
lumbering and logging industries. 

Mr. Bjorge was born at Underwood, Minnesota, January 5, 1886, 
a son of H. P. and Janette Bjorge. His parents were both natives of 
Norway and came to the United States in 1870. For many years they 
had their home in Ottertail County, Minnesota, but in 1899 removed to 
Duluth. In Ottertail County H. P. Bjorge was a farmer and merchant 
at Underwood, but since coming to Duluth has become prominent in 
state official affairs and has served as a member of the State Board of 
Grain Appeals at Duluth. He was a member of the Legislature from 
Ottertail County five terms, from 1885 to 1895. 

Oscar B. Bjorge is the fourth in a family of eight children, five of 
whom are still living. He attended the common schools at Underwood 
until he was thirteen years of age, and in 1903 graduated from the 
Duluth High School and then entered the University of Minnesota, where 
he pursued a technical course and graduated with the Mechanical Engi- 
neering degree in 1907. On coming out of university he was teacher of 
mechanical drawing in the Mechanical Arts High School at St. Paul 
from 1907 to 1909. 

Since 1909 Mr. Bjorge has been connected with the Clyde Iron Works 
of Duluth, and has filled the responsible post of chief engineer since 
1912. He became a member of the Board of Directors in July. 1920, and 
secretary of the company in January, 1921. He is a member of the 
Engineers' Club, Curling Club, Boat Club, Kitchi Gammi Club, Ridge- 
view Golf Club, president of the Duluth Rotary Club in 1921-2, a member 
of Sigma Xi, Honorary Scientific Fraternity, Tau Beti Pi. Honorary 
Engineering Fraternity and of the American Society of Mechanical Engi- 
neers. He is also a member of the Commercial Club of Duluth, is 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1055 

affiliated with Ionic Lodge No. 186, Accepted Free and Ancient Masons, 
and is a member of the Unitarian Church and in politics is independent. 
Mr. Bjorge was married in January, 1921, to Miss Ann Mary McCar- 
thy, of Duluth, formerly of Marquette, Michigan. 

Oliver O. Ormond began his career as a railway telegrapher, was a 
railroad man when he first came to the Iron Range district, but for fifteen 
years has been engaged in various grades of responsibility with some of 
the large iron mining corporations and is now a superintendent of the 
Hanna Mines at Buhl. 

Mr. Ormond was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 18, 1881. His 
father, Charles Ormond, was born in South Wales January 19, 1843, 
and was eighteen years of age when he came to the United States in 1861. 
The following year he showed his practical patriotism by enlisting. in the 
Union army and fought for the preservation of the Union until the end 
of the war. After the war he removed to Milwaukee and entered the 
service of S. S. Merrill as contracting superintendent, and continued with 
that well-known industrial operator for a number of years. He is now 
seventy-seven years of age, is still active as a farmer, and is an example 
of the rugged vitality of his race. 

Oliver O. Ormond is the youngest of six children. He was only two 
years of age when his mother died. She was also of Welsh birth and 
ancestry. As a boy he lived in his father's home at Milwaukee, attended 
the public schools in that city, but since fifteen years of age has been 
launched on his independent career. He learned telegraphy and worked 
as a telegraph operator and clerk, at first with the Chicago & Northwest- 
ern Railway and later with the Great Northern. In the employ of the 
Great Northern he came to the Range country in 1903, being first assigned 
to duty at Buhl, then at Chisholm, Sandstone and Swan River. In 1905 
he left the service of the Great Northern and became a locomotive fire- 
man for the Wisconsin Steel Company at Agnew. He was successively 
promoted to locomotive engineer, night foreman and then day foreman. 
Since 1912 he has been in the employ of the M. A. Hanna Mining Com- 
pany, beginning as day walking boss in charge of the Brunt Mine and 
the Hanna A and B pits. In November, 1918, he was transferred to 
Buhl as mining captain for the specific purpose of reopening the -Frantz 
Mine. Soon afterward he was made superintendent of that mine, and 
is now superintendent also of the Thorne Mine and is opening the 
W r abigon Mine. 

Mr. Ormond served as captain of his district for the promotion of 
all the Liberty Loan drives during the war. He is a Republican in poli- 
tics. On January 14, 1911, he married Miss Grace Murray, of Michigan. 
She is of Scottish ancestry. They have one son, Oliver Preston Ormond. 

Adam N. Schirmer by long experience and study has become a master 
of that difficult branch of mechanical engineering known as plumbing, 
and has built up a large business as a contractor in plumbing, heating, 
furnace and ventilating work at Chisholm. Mr. Schirmer has been a 
resident of Chisholm since 1912, and has been on the Iron Ranges for 
twelve years. 

He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 13, 1887, son of Adolph 
and Elizabeth (Schueler) Schirmer. His father was born at Hanover 
and his mother at Berlin, Germany, but they were married after they 
came to this country. Adolph Schirmer for thirty-eight years was an 
employe of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company in 
the mechanical department at Cedar Rapids. He died in 1913 and his 
widow is still living. 



1056 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

One of four children, Adam N. Schirmer grew up in Cedar Rapids, 
graduated from the high school with the class of 1904, and almost 
immediately took up a mechanical trade. His father at that time was 
the official valve setter for the Rock Island Railway, and the son served 
his apprenticeship as a machinist under his father. He began at ninety 
cents a day, later was put in charge of the air-brake department, still 
later had his quarters at Estherville, Iowa, in the employ of the Rock 
Island Company, and leaving railroading he went west to Phillip, South 
Dakota, where he filed on a quarter section of land. He performed all 
the duties necessary to prove up his claim and lived on it for fourteen 
months. Part of that time he also worked at his trade at Pierre. 
Mr. Schirmer came to Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1908, and the following 
four years was in the service of his cousin, A. C. Schirmer, in the plumb- 
ing business, and by practical work and study mastered every branch of 
the business. Then, in 1912, he moved to Chisholm and started in a 
limited way to build up a contracting business. To his father, who 
implanted in his mind the principles of industry, honesty and frugality, 
Mr. Schirmer attributes much of his success. Now his business has 
assumed large proportions, involving the service of a score of men, and 
his organization is usually called upon for all the high class work in 
such public buildings as schools and libraries, besides many contracts for 
installation of plumbing and heating appliances in stores and private 
residences. 

June 9, 1911, Mr. Schirmer married Miss Olive Bradstreet, of Inde- 
pendence, Iowa. They have two children, Jack and Faye. Mr. Schirmer 
is a Lutheran, is an independent voter in politics, and has a number of 
interesting associations with the people and affairs of northern Minne- 
sota. He is a member of the Engineers' Club of Northern Minnesota, the 
Commercial Clubs of Hibbing and Chisholm, the Kiwanis Club of Chis- 
holm, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and is 
a past exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge of Chisholm. 

George H. Dormer for a quarter of a century has performed services 
of increasing responsibility in connection with the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company, is widely known over the Iron Range district in northern 
Minnesota, and recently has been transferred to Buhl as superintendent 
of the local mines of the Oliver Company. 

Mr. Dormer was born at Lanark, Ontario, Canada, June 15, 1874, and 
is of old American and Scotch ancestry. His father, John J. Dormer, was 
born in New York state, was a moulder and machinist by trade, and for a 
number of years was an electrical worker in mines. In 1872 John J. 
Dormer married Margaret Herbert, who was born in Ontario, of Scotch 
. ancestry. 

The oldest of five children, George H. Dormer was four years of age 
when his parents moved to Manitoba, and was nine when they estab- 
lished another home in North Dakota. It was in North Dakota that he 
spent most of his youth. He graduated from the Pembina High School 
about 1892, and after acquiring some proficiency in shorthand as the 
result of attending a business school in Minneapolis went to work for the 
county attorney of Pembina, North Dakota, and was thus employed in 
his office about two years. Then came another business course at the 
Curtis Business College at Minneapolis, and then for about two years he 
was bookkeeper and later cashier of a bank at Neihart, Montana. He was 
doing well, had good prospects of advancement, and might probably have 
ended by becoming a successful banker had not a spell of typhoid fever 
interrupted his career in the far west. While convalescing he spent about 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1057 

a year at home with his parents at Pembina, and on June 1, 1895, took his 
first position with an iron mine as stenographer and bookkeeper for the 
Minnesota Iron Company. He has been with some branch of the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company continuously since that date. In 1905 he was 
transferred to the Fayal Mine, was made cashier and chief clerk of the 
Fayal, and in 1906 rose to the responsibilities of mine superintendent. He 
remained at the Fayal for a dozen years, and in April, 1918, was trans- 
ferred to Virginia, and in April, 1919, came to Buhl as superintendent of 
the local mines. 

Mr. Dormer was a member of the School Board at Eveleth for twelve 
or fourteen years, and in different localities has endeavored to perform 
his duties as a citizen. He is a member of the Engineers Club of North- 
ern Minnesota, is a Republican, belongs to the Episcopal Church and is 
affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Eveleth. In October, 1906, he mar- 
ried Miss May Frezona, of Eveleth. She is of English ancestry. They 
have three children: George G., born in 1909; Louise J., born in 1911; 
and Richard J., born in 1919. 

George N. Butch art, M. D. By reason of twenty-five years of resi- 
dence and earnest and capable work, Doctor Butchart is dean of the 
medical profession of Hibbing and one of the honored men of his voca- 
tion in northern Minnesota. 

Doctor Butchart was born on a farm in County Gray, Canada, 
December 23, 1872, son of William and Agnes (Russell) Butchart. His 
parents were also born in Canada, of Scotch ancestry. In 1876 the family 
removed to the United States, where William Butchart bought an old 
plantation in North Carolina. He remained in that section of the south 
and operated the farm and plantation for ten years. He then returned to 
Canada, where he and his wife spent their last days. 

George N. Butchart was four years of age when taken to North 
Carolina, and his boyhood was chiefly environed by the scenes and activi- 
ties of an old southern cotton plantation. Later he lived in western 
Canada, and in 1891 graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree from 
Manitoba College. For a time he clerked in a drug store in Manitoba, 
which was still on the western frontier, also owned a drug business in 
that province, and during the winter of 1892 entered the Omaha Medical 
College at Omaha, Nebraska, .and completed his course and graduated 
in 1895. 

In July of the same year' Doctor Butchart located in Hibbing, Minne- 
sota, and almost continuously for twenty-five years has given his energies 
and talents to his profession in that locality. For six years he was first 
assistant in Rood Hospital. For about eighteen months Doctor Butchart 
was engaged in medical contract work for a mining corporation in Mich- 
igan, but then returned to Hibbing. He served as deputy county coroner 
a number of years, for several years was village health officer, served one 
year as a member of the Village Council and is a member of the County, 
State and American Medical Associations, votes as a Republican and is 
affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and the Order of Elks. 

On May 12, 1895, 'Doctor Butchart married Miss Minnie Lockhart of 
Manitoba. They have two children, Dana Lockhart and Gwenith Jean. 
The son, Dana, graduated from Columbia Military Academy in Tennessee 
in 1916, and in June, 1920, finished the work of the Junior College of 
Hibbing, Minnesota. In the meantime he had enlisted for service in the 
World war, and received his preliminary training in aviation at Toronto, 



1058 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Canada, and was granted a second lieutenant's commission in the 
Canadian Royal Air Service, and was made first lieutenant overseas. He 
sailed for service abroad on his twentieth birthday, and was honorably 
discharged after the signing of the armistice. 

Leighton R. Simons. There is not a community in the country 
which has not its veterans of the great war, young men who, having 
rendered their countrv a service inspired by patriotism and the determina- 
tion to protect it from foreign invasion, are now back home and prepared 
to give just as efficient aid in conquering the foes to law and order and 
the proper development of the natural resources as they were when in 
uniform. These young men are making history, and their impress will be 
on the generations to come. No man can pass through an experience like 
theirs without coming back strengthened and broadened, provided, of 
course, the natural tendencies were good. St. Louis County sent forth 
the very flower of its young manhood, and fortunately for all concerned 
only a few of the stars in its service flag turned to gold, the majority of 
the soldiers having been returned in comparative safety. One of the 
stalwart young veterans who has an honorable record of overseas service 
is Leighton R. Simons, one of the rising young attorneys of Buhl. 

Leighton R. Simons was born at Carlton, Minnesota, April 8. 1889, a 
son of Edwin N. Simons, who was born November 24, 1859, at Sterling, 
Pennsylvania. He came west in 1880, locating at Thomson, Minnesota, 
at that time a saw mill town located twenty miles southwest of Duluth. 
There he became engaged as a shingle contractor in the saw mills, and was 
so occupied for a number of years at Thomson. Cloquet. Carlton and 
West Duluth. He came to Virginia in 1905, and is now a filer employed 
at the Virginia and Rainy Lake sawmill. The Simons family is of 
Irish and German descent. Edwin N. Simons was married to Miss Mary 
Owens April 15, 1886. She is of Welsh and Dutch parentage, and was 
born March 31, 1867, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They became the 
parents of four children, of whom Leighton R. is the second in order of 
birth. 

Leighton R. Simons attended the graded schools of Carlton and 
Cloquet, Minnesota, and the high schools of Cloquet and Virginia, Minne- 
sota, being graduated from the one at Virginia in 1906. For the subse- 
quent year he was employed with his father in the mills, and then entered 
the University of Minnesota, from which he was graduated in 1911 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Returning to Virginia, he spent a year 
working in the city engineer's department of Virginia, and then entered 
the law school of the University of Minnesota and was graduated there- 
from in 1914 and was admitted to the bar of Minnesota that same year. 
While at college he was interested in athletics, especially basket ball, and 
he was also active in the literary and debating societies to which he 
belonged. 

Soon after securing his degree Mr. Simons entered the law office of 
A. E. Templeton of Hibbing, Minnesota, and there spent three months, 
but in the spring of 1915 came to Buhl and was associated in law practice 
with A. R. Folsom. leaving him in September, 1915, to open an office of 
his own. During 1919 he served Buhl as village attorney and was reap- 
pointed to that office in 1920. He belongs to Chisholm Lodge No. 1334. 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Howard Bennett Post No. 
214, American Legion. In politics he is an independent Republican, while 
in religion he is a protestant. 

On June 29, 1918, Mr. Simons was married to Miss Marian Aubrey, 
of West Allis, Wisconsin, who is a member of an old American family. 
They have one son, Robert A., who was born March 12, 1920. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1059 

Mr. Simons enlisted for service during the World war, and was 
enrolled in the Second Officers Camp at Fort Sheridan. Before he had 
completed his training, however, his draft number was called, and he was 
drafted and sent to Fort Winfield Scott, San Francisco, California, Sec- 
ond Provisional Regiment of Coast Artillery. On March 29, 1918, he 
was transferred to the Fourth Officers Training Camp, Coast Artillery, 
Fortress Monroe, Virginia. He was commissioned a second lieutenant 
of Coast Artillery, and July 18 went overseas as a casual, landing in 
France. Immediately thereafter he was ordered to Mailly, headquarters 
of the American Expeditionary Forces, and not long thereafter was sent 
to southern France to school. Returned to Mailly, he was assigned to the 
Forty-second Railroad Artillery, which was stationed about twenty-five 
miles back from the front, and here he remained until the armistice was 
signed. He was sent home, and arrived in the United States February 22, 
1919, and was discharged March 11, following. 

E. K. Coe, city engineer, has given his professional time and services 
to Duluth and environs for nearly thirty years. He is one of the promi- 
nent men in his profession in the northwest, and for nearly two years Was 
an officer on duty with the American Army both in this country and 
abroad. 

Major Coe was born April 20, 1868. at Sterling, Illinois, a son of the 
late M. L. Coe, who was a native of New York. E. K. Coe is one of five 
children and received his early education in the public schools of Sterling. 
He acquired his degree in civil engineering after a course in Cornell 
College, Iowa. As a young man he was a civil engineer with the Chicago 
& Northwestern Railway for one year. He came to Duluth in 1891 and 
was at different times associated with the D. M. & N. Railroad, the D. & I. 
Railroad and also did engineering work for the city and county govern- 
ment. He has made surveys and supervised some of the important con- 
struction undertakings around the Duluth Harbor. Following that he 
was appointed and served as city engineer two years. 

Major Coe was the first commissioned officer called from Duluth at 
the beginning of the World war. As an officer he built Camp Lee in 
Virginia. In November, 1917, he went overseas to France and there was 
engineer in charge of the construction of a line of hospitals. In the early 
fall of 1918 he went to front line duty at the headquarters of the first 
American Army and had a part in the great battle of the Argonne. After 
the armistice he received home orders and returned to America early in 
1919. Mr. Coe is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is a Repub- 
lican in politics. In 1891 he married Miss Emma Witmer, of Illinois. 
They have five children: Douglas W., a lieutenant in the United States 
Navy ; Mrs. M. C. Merritt ; Edward Harold, late lieutenant of engineers, 
U. S. R. ; Ruth, and Eveleth. 

Carl Erich Wickman. Appropriately here is given a brief indi- 
vidual sketch of the vice president and manager and one of the founders 
and upbuilders of the Mesaba Transportation Company at Hibbing, an 
organization whose growth and the development of its facilities for an 
extensive transportation service covering a large part of the Iron Range 
district are made the subject of a special historical review published 
elsewhere in this work. 

Carl Erich Wickman is still a young man but is well qualified for his 
important business responsibilities through an experience that has brought 
him step by step from the ranks of mechanical labor to executive duties 
of a high order. 

Vol. Ill — 9 



1060 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Wickman was born in Sweden, August 7, 1887, where his parents, 
Carl Victor and Anna (Martis) Wickman, are still living. There his 
boyhood was spent, with an education in the common schools, and at the 
age of seventeen he came to the United States. The first year he was in 
America he was employed in a sawmill in Arizona. With the exception 
of that first year his American career has been identified with Hibbing. 
For about six years he worked on a diamond drill under that distinguished 
Hibbing engineer, A. P. Silliman. Then with a modest capital and a 
knowledge of mechanics in general he opened a tire repair shop at 
Hibbing and continued it for about a year, until he sold, and with other 
associates started the modest service with a single bus from which has 
developed the extensive facilities of the present Mesaba Transportation 
Company. 

Mr. Wickman married, August 22, 1916, Miss Olga Rodin. Mrs. 
Wickman is a native of Hibbing. They have one son, Robert. In politics 
Mr. Wickman is aligned with the Republican party, is a member of the 
Swedish Lutheran Church, and is a prominent Mason, having attained 
the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite, is a member of the Mystic 
Shrine, and also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

William L. Murphy, an ex-service man who was with an organiza- 
tion of engineers in France, has been in the Iron Range district and con- 
nected with the industrial activities of the Range country for over ten 
years and is one of the best known citizens of St. Louis county. 

He was born at Chippewa Falls in Chippewa county, Wisconsin, July 
3. 1889. His father. Angus Murphy, who was born in Canada, October 
15, 1848, came to the United States in 1880, and subsequently naturalized 
as a citizen. His occupation was that of a woodsman, and he was a fore- 
man for various lumber organizations in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and 
continued this line of work practically until his death, October 3, 1910. 
He married Margaret M. Gratten, who was born at Quebec, Canada, 
June 25, 1863. William L. is the sixth in a family of ten children, seven 
of whom are still living. 

William L. Murphy attended school at Chippewa Falls, where he was 
born, graduated from high school in 1907, and in the same year arrived 
at Hibbing, Minnesota. The first work he did here was as machinist's 
helper on locomotive repairs with the Oliver Iron Mining Company. A 
year later he entered the service of the prominent contracting firm of 
Drake & Stratton as shovel fireman, a year later was promoted to crane- 
man, and remained with Drake & Stratton in that capacity three years 
and another year as craneman with the Shenango Furnace Company and 
subsequently two years as steam shovel engineer. In June, 1915, he 
entered business for himself as a member of the firm of Cawley & Murphy, 
in the dray and transfer business at Chisholm. The following year they 
began dealing in fuel and the business steadily prospered until Mr. Mur- 
phy sold his interest to his partner in 1918 in order that he might go 
into the army. 

His service with the colors began July 8, 1918. He was sent to 
Camp Dix, New Jersay, attached for training to the One Hundred and 
Forty-fourth Engineers, and a month later was transferred to the 
Seventy-second Engineers, Company B, at Camp Humphreys, Virginia. 
While there he was made duty sergeant and on October 11, 1918, was 
with a contingent that sailed overseas, reaching Brest the 20th of Octo- 
ber. For one week they remained at that seaport and were then sent to 
Angiers, the headquarters of engineers in France. Later Mr. Murphy 
was sent on detached duty to St. Nazaire and put in charge of a steam 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1061 

shovel during construction of a camp ground, and continued that line of 
service for seven and a half' months after the close of the war. On July 
1, 1919, he embarked for the United States, reaching New York July 
12th, and was mustered out of service July 25th at Camp Grant, Illinois. 

On returning to northern Minnesota Mr. Murphy resumed his con- 
nection with civil life at Hibbing with the firm of Ryan Brothers, selling 
automobiles and tractors. In 1920 he was nominated for the office of 
county commissioner of St. Louis County. On December 1, 1920, he 
entered the transportation business, which is conducted under the name 
of the Chisholm Transportation Company, with offices in Chisholm. 

Mr. Murphy is an independent Democrat in politics. He served as 
village trustee of Chisholm in 1918. He is affiliated with Chisholm Lodge 
No. 1334 of the Elks, with Hibbing Council No. 1649, Knights of Colum- 
bus, Chisholm Council No. 1, Order of Owls, and is a member of Post 
No. 247 of the American Legion. He and his wife are members of 
St. Joseph's Catholic Church. October 29, 1919, Mr. Murphy married 
Miss Mary M. Mahon, of New York city. 

Alger R. Syme. It is doubtful if any other profession has con- 
tributed so many really efficient and competent men to the country as 
that of the law, and it is certainly true that its members measure up to 
the very highest standards of Americanism. In every community the 
attorneys-at-law are always found in the foremost ranks of the men of 
affairs, and through them and their public-spirited enterprise are improve- 
ments promulgated and carried out to a successful completion. One of 
these men who has not only made himself a well-known figure in the 
public affairs of St. Louis County, but also attained to distinction in his 
profession, is Alger R. Syme, one of the successful lawyers of Chisholm. 

Alger R. Syme was born in Ontario, Canada, October 15, 1888, a 
son of James H. and Emma E. (Hillier) Syme, and comes of Scotch- 
English ancestry. James H. Syme was born at Dunville, Canada, June 
12, 1859, and became a patternmaker and is still working at his trade, 
His wife was born July 25, 1865, and is still living. They were married 
at Windsor, Ontario, Canada, July 21, 1886, and became the parents of 
four children, of whom Alger R. is the eldest. 

The family came to the United States, and Alger R. Syme received a 
grade-school training and then took the high school course at Buffalo, 
New York, from which he was graduated in 1908. For the next six 
months he was in the law office of Charles Newton of that city. In 
order to earn the money necessary to continue his legal studies Mr. Syme 
left Buffalo in 1909 and came to Chisholm, Minnesota, and became office 
clerk for the Oliver Mining Company, and continued as such until in 
October, 1910, he entered the University of Michigan and took the legal 
course, and at the same time did some special work in the academic 
department. He was graduated in 1913, and admitted to the Michigan 
bar that same year. Returning to Chisholm, he was admitted to the bar 
of Minnesota in February, 1914. The first few months thereafter he 
was with the law firm of Woods & Knapp. and then, June 1. 1914. he 
opened an office of his own. During 1914-1915, 1917-1918, 1918-1919 
and 1920-1921 he has been attorney for the Independent School District 
No. 40, and is the present incumbent. In politics he is an independent 
Republican. A Mason, he maintains membership in Hematite Lodge 
No. 274, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Syme also belongs 
to Chisholm Lodge No. 179, Knights of Pythias ; Chisholm Lodge No. 
1334, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Order of the Eastern 
Star and the Kiwanis Club. The Methodist Episcopal Church holds his 



1062 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

membership and his hearty support. During the late war he had charge 
of the collections for the last Liberty Loan drives and was also chair- 
man of the committee for civilian relief of the Red Cross, chairman of 
the local War Savings Committee, a member of the Home Guard, and 
in every way assisted in the local war activities. 

On June 17, 1916, Mr. Syme was married to Miss Helen J. Croman, 
of Mount Clemens. Michigan, who comes from an old Revolutionary 
family. She received her grade and high-school education at Mount 
Clemens, following which she took a two years' course at the Bradley 
Polytechnic Institute at Peoria, Illinois, from which she received the 
degree of Bachelor of Literature. In 1914 she was graduated from the 
University of Michigan with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and subse- 
quently taught school, being instructor of Latin and German at the 
Howard City, Michigan, High School. Mrs. Syme is a member of the 
Iota Chapter of Delta Delta Delta Sorority, and the Eastern Star. 
Mr. and Mrs. Syme have three children, namely: Alger R., who was 
born August 2, 1918; James J., who was born May 5, 1920: and Jean 
Croman, born July 1, 1921. Both Mr. and Mrs. Syme are highly edu- 
cated and cultured young people, and they have gathered about them a 
congenial circle of friends with whom they are deservedly popular. They 
are both much interested in civic matters and zealous in promoting the 
welfare of their home city. 

'Frank J. Demel, Sr., and his family of able sons and daughters have 
for a number of years borne a prominent part in the affairs of the vil- 
lage of Buhl. Mr. Demel himself has been in business in the village, has 
also participated in public affairs and is now serving as inspector of 
meters. 

He was born in Bohemia July 12, 1861, son of Frank J. and Mary E. 
(Keasler) Demel. His father was a weaver by trade. Frank J. Demel, 
Sr., acquired a common school education in his native land, and in 
August, 1881, at the age of twenty, accompanied his mother and two 
younger brothers to the United States. His mother spent the rest of 
her days in this country and died in 1914, at the age of seventy-four. 
The family first lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Frank J. Demel 
worked in a furniture factory five years, and then took up the trade of 
barber and was so employed another five years. In 1892 he removed 
to Chicago and for thirteen consecutive years was a barber in one shop 
in that city. In 1904 he came to Buhl, not long after the mines were 
opened in this district, and for the first year conducted a barber shop. 
He then went to work for the Interstate Iron Company as operator of 
a "clam shell' which the company was trying out. After a year and a 
'half the experiment was abandoned, but Mr. Demel continued in the 
service of the company as fireman of a boiler for three years. About 
that time he was elected recorder of the village, and was re-elected and 
since leaving that office has been meter inspector for the Water and 
Light Board. 

Mr. Demel is a past dictator of Council No. 1071 of the Loyal Order 
of Moose and has twice been a delegate of the local branch to Moose 
Heart, Illinois. He is a Democrat in politics and a member of the Catho- 
lic Church and received complete naturalization as an American citizen 
in Cook County. Illinois, in 1891. 

In August. 1887, Mr. Demel married Miss Katherine Doherty. of 
Grand Rapids, Michigan, and of Irish ancestry. Their children are 
Mary E.. who is the present postmistress of Buhl ; Katherine E., wife 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1063 

of H. O. White, of Buhl; Frank J., Jr., Mertyle M. and Donald J., 
twins ; Francis, Leslie, Lorren L. and Russell. 

Frank J. Demel, Jr., is one of Buhl's popular younger citizens, and a 
man with an interesting army service record. He was born in Chicago 
December 23, 1894, attended grade school in that city, and graduated 
from the high school at Buhl in 1914. For the following two years he 
conducted the local newspaper at Buhl and then was foreman for con- 
crete contractors. On April 1, 1918, he enlisted for the aviation service 
and was sent for training to the Pennsylvania State College. The avia- 
tion service being overcrowded, by his express choice he was transferred 
to the engineers, and for three months continued in training, studying 
electrical engineering. Then for a short time he was in the American 
University at Washington, District of Columbia, following which he was 
sent to the Rifle Range at Camp Glenburney, Baltimore, Maryland. In 
August, 1918, he went overseas, reaching Liverpool and after a week 
was sent across the channel to Havre, and thence to a quiet sector on the 
Alsace-Lorraine front. After some further training he was assigned to 
duty in the Meuse-Argonne, when the American armies were achieving 
such glorious successes in that sector, and he saw some of the fighting 
when it was the fiercest. He remained in France and with the Army 
of Occupation for some months after the armistice, and reached home 
July 3, 1919. On March 15, 1920, he was elected village recorder, and 
is still serving in that office at Buhl. 

Francis E. House has been a resident of Duluth over twenty years 
and is president of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Company. Under 
the Federal administration of the railroads he was manager of the Duluth, 
Missabe & Northern Railroad and of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad. 
Mr. House came to his position as a railroad executive after many years 
of hard work in subordinate positions, beginning as a civil engineer, and 
assisting in the construction of some of the pioneer lines of railroad in 
the west. 

He was born November 15, 1855, at Houseville, Lewis County, New 
York, son of Henry A. and Mary E. (Goff) House. His father, a native 
of New York state, had a common school education and was a business 
man of high abilities. For many years he was an active figure in bank- 
ing and insurance circles. As a Republican he was interested in national 
and local politics, though he never consented to hold office. He was a 
member of the Episcopal Church, was a Knight Templar Mason, and at 
one time was a state officer in the New York Knight Templars. 

The oldest in a family of four boys, Francis E. House was educated 
in the common schools, in a preparatory school at Rochester, and studied 
engineering and chemistry, though he never graduated, at the Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York. Leaving the Institute at the 
age of twenty-two, his first experience was in assaying and mining engi- 
neering work in Nevada. His work as a railroad man began in 1880, in 
which year he was with a surveying party for the Chicago, Milwaukee 
& St. Paul, and did engineering work for other lines of railroads until 
1883. In that year he became division roadmaster in the track depart- 
ment of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, in 1887 was promoted to 
general roadmaster, and in 1890 was made trainmaster on the Kansas 
City Division. 

Mr. House left this western road in 1891 and returned east, on con- 
struction work with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and in 1892 
was made engineer, maintenance of way, for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 
Railroad and became chief engineer in 1894. Mr. House was made chief 



1064 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

engineer of the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad in 1896, and became gen- 
eral superintendent in 1897 and general manager in 1901. In the latter 
year he took up his residence and duties at Duluth as president of the 
Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Company, and during the Federal regime 
was Federal manager of that road and also the Duluth, Missabe & North- 
ern Railroad. 

In his quiet and efficient way Mr. House has participated in several 
community projects at Duluth. For about sixteen years he has been 
identified with the local Young Men's Christian Association as an official, 
most of the time as vice president and member of the Board of Directors 
and has been influential in the various campaigns to raise funds and secur- 
ing adequate building accommodations. He has been an elder of the 
Presbyterian Church since about 1900, is a Republican in politics, and 
a member of the Kitchi Gammi Club, Commercial Club, Northland 
Country Club and Kitchinadji Club. 

Mr. House has an interesting family, all three of his sons having 
been with the colors during the World war. He married July 30, 1880, 
Miss Minnie Mecracken, of a Pennsylvania family. Six children were 
born to their union and the four living are Henry Arthur, Allan Curtis, 
Francis E., Jr., and Dorothy. Henry Arthur finished his course in min- 
ing engineering at Columbia University, has had some experience in prac- 
tical mining and in a small way has been associated with his father in 
a western ranch. He served as captain of infantry during the World 
war, was overseas, and has received his honorable discharge. The second 
son, Allan Curtis, who was on overseas duty as a captain of artillery, 
is now engaged in commercial business at Cleveland, Ohio. The young- 
est son, Francis E., Jr., now in the advertising business at Cleveland, 
was also abroad with the Expeditionary Forces as a first lieutenant in 
artillery. 

William G. Brown has lived on the Iron Ranges of northern Minne- 
sota for more than thirty-six years, nearly all his life, and his work and 
experiences have identified him with many of the phases of mining 
operations in this district. For a number of years he has been in the 
service of the prominent organization of mine owners, Pickands, Mather 
& Company of Cleveland, and is now superintendent of the Albany Mine 
owned by this corporation in the Hibbing District. 

Mr. Brown was born at Quinnesec, Michigan, October 1, 1881. His 
father, John C. Brown, was connected with the Quinnesec Mine on the 
Menominee Range in Michigan. John C. Brown married Flora St. Marie, 
of French ancestry, and in 1884 the family removed to Tower on the 
Vermillion Range in northern Minnesota. 

William G. Brown was three years of age when the family came to 
northern Minnesota, and he grew up in the Soudan community, was edu- 
cated there, and as a boy began working in the mines. Later, in order 
to supply the deficiencies of his early education, he attended Highland 
Park College of Des Moines, Iowa, for one year. After leaving college 
he returned and became shipping clerk in the Soudan Mine, also worked 
on the Diamond Drill for a time, and in 1899 transferred to the Mesaba 
Range, and served as timekeeper of the Genoa Mine at Sparta. In 1901 
he became bookkeeper for Pickands, Mather & Company in the Elba 
Mine near McKinley. He was soon promoted to chief clerk in the local 
offices of Pickands, Mather & Company, and in 1903 was transferred 
with these duties to Hibbing, where he continued as chief clerk until 
January 1, 1918. Since then Mr. Brown has had the important responsi- 
bilities of superintendent of the Albany Mine. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1065 

He has always been willing to devote his time and energies to the 
welfare of his locality. In 1919 he became treasurer of Stuntz township, 
filling that office two years, and in 1919 was elected supervisor of the 
town of Stuntz for a term of three years. He is a Republican, a mem- 
ber of the Engineers' Club of Northern Minnesota, the Kiwanis Club of 
Hibbing, the Commercial Club, and is affiliated with the Elks and the 
Knights of Columbus and is a member of the Catholic Church. 

April 24, 1905, he married Miss Rosana Viger, of Eveleth, Minne- 
sota. They have three children : Aileen Orville, Hamilton Paul and 
Virgil Bernardine. 

Thomas J. Walsh was one of the makers of history in the develop- 
ment of the iron ore district of northern Minnesota. For nearly forty 
years he has been a prominent citizen and business man of Duluth, and 
is a man of achievement who began life with little education and in a 
routine of humble duties. 

He was born near Toronto, Canada, October 4, 1867, son of Patrick 
W. and Ellen (Fanning) Walsh. His father came from County Tipper- 
ary, Ireland, and spent nearly his entire life on a farm near Toronto, 
where he died in 1913. He was a cousin of the late Thomas F. Walsh, 
one of America's famous and wealthy mine owners. The maternal 
grandmother of Thomas J. Walsh was born in Ireland and lived to the 
remarkable age of a hundred and fourteen years, having spent a hundred 
and eight years in one town in 'Canada. 

Thomas J. Walsh, the only survivor of a family of five children, 
attended school in Canada to the age of eleven, and in 1880, at the age 
of thirteen, came to the United States and found his first employment 
as an engine wiper in the shops of the Lansing & Northern Railroad at 
Jackson, Michigan. He also packed shingles in a shingle mill, and by 
the hardest kind of work and by association with men of all classes he 
developed that ready resourcefulness which has been his chief asset in 
his mature career. One factor, no doubt, that has contributed to his 
success has been his strictly temperate habits. For many years he lived 
in surroundings and among men who regarded drinking and other forms 
of dissipation as primary social obligations. 

Mr. Walsh came to Duluth in 1882, and in June of that year with 
two companions was sent out by G. C. Stone & Company over an Indian 
trail to explore the Vermillion Lake country. They reached the present 
site of Tower five days later, and there did the first development work 
on iron ore in the state of Minnesota. The site subsequently became 
famous as the Soudan Mine, the oldest iron property in the state. 
Mr. Walsh in those early years performed some of the hard physical 
labor and endured the hardships of prospecting, and rapidly picked up 
a practical knowledge as a miner. Eventually he used a limited capital 
of twelve hundred dollars, supplied by himself and one or two asso- 
ciates, in developing a timber and iron ore property, and later sold out 
for eight thousand dollars, that being the first of his many business 
triumphs. Eventually he acquired about seven thousand acres in the 
Vermillion district under his individual control, and some of his more 
important connections in recent years have been as president and treas- 
urer of the North American Iron Mining Company, the Minnesota Steel 
& Iron Company, the Consolidated Vermillion & Extension Company, vice 
president of the Great Northern Land Company and treasurer of the 
Duluth Clay Products Company. One of the iron ore mines which he 
was instrumental in developing was sold September 25, 1919, for seven 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 



1066 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Through all these years Mr. Walsh has been one of the public-spirited 
citizens of Duluth. During 1892-93 he served as private secretary to the 
mayor of the city. His greatest enthusiasm, however, has been his work, 
and while he never had the benefit of a college or technical education, 
he knows all the fundamentals of economic geology, and has made many 
investigations of human antiquities of the north, having acquired one of 
the finest collections in existence of specimens of the stone and copper 
age and also a large collection of Indian relics. 

In 1900, at Tower, Minnesota, Mr. Walsh married Miss Margaret 
S. Sullivan, daughter of Henry and Lizzie Sullivan, natives of Michigan. 
Her father was a mining' man. Mr. and Mrs. Walsh have three chil- 
dren: Margaret Ellen, Frances M. and Edna. 

Frank L. Johnson. While his business headquarters as a carpenter 
and building contractor for nearly forty years have been in Duluth, 
Frank L. Johnson is head of the firm Frank L. Johnson & Son, whose 
operations have covered a wide field in the northwest, and have involved 
many large building contracts of all kinds. 

Mr. Johnson is a master of building detail and learned his business 
from the standpoint of a carpenter. He was born in Sweden August 5, 
1856, was reared and educated and learned his trade in his native land 
and was twenty-three years of age when in 1879 he came alone to 
America. For a time he found employment in St. Paul, also worked 
for a short time in Denver, Colorado, spent one winter in New Mexico 
and then after visiting Pueblo, Colorado, returned to St. Paul and in 1881 
came to the city of Duluth, then a town of hardly more than two thou- 
sand inhabitants. He at once threw himself into the building resources 
of the community, but for eight years continued as a journeyman car- 
penter. During that time he was employed on the old courthouse build- 
ing. Probably no other man now living has a better knowledge of building 
history in Duluth than Mr. Johnson. For twenty-nine years he con- 
tinued as a carpenter and contractor either for others or independently, 
and then took in his son and since then the firm has been Frank L. John- 
son & Son. Their operations have grown and expanded until they cover 
a large part of the northwestern country and Canada. Some of the lead- 
ing residences of the Zenith City have been constructed by this firm. 
Other buildings erected by them are the . Cathedral High School, the 
Waldorf Flat and Apartment Building, the Cook & Dillman Building 
between Second and Third avenues on Superior street, to mention only 
a few of the more notable. They were employed by the Renville Brothers 
of Canada to handle some extensive Government contracts in the Province 
of Saskatchewan. They were contractors in the erection of college 
buildings at Prince Albert, a contract requiring two years to complete. 

Mr. A. C. Johnson is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, votes as a Republican, and is a member of the Swedish Lutheran 
Church. Mr. F. L. Johnson has five children : Minnie, A. C, E. H., Ruth 
and Esther. Both sons were in the World war. A. C, born February 
19, 1887, was with Dental Unit No. 2 at Camp Grant. E. H. saw front 
line duty in France, was twice wounded, and after the war was returned 
to this country and came out of the service from a hospital in St. Paul. 

Mathew O. Hall. Although financial independence is almost uni- 
versally desired, there are many young men who seemingly make little 
effort to secure it when it means protracted industry and considerable 
self denial. Had Mathew O. Hall, a well known and popular young busi- 
ness man of Buhl, Minnesota, been one of that type, it is quite probable 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1067 

that he would not be, as at present, at the head of a large business enter- 
prise as proprietor of the Buhl Motor Company. 

Mathew O. Hall was born August 30, 1890, at Minneapolis, Minne- 
sota, the only child of Olaf O. and Hattie (Erickson) Hall. Olaf O. Hall 
was born in Norway in 1862 and resided in his native land until twenty- 
two years ago, when he came to the United States, of which he is now a 
citizen. In 1888 he was married to Hattie Erickson, who is of Swedish 
parentage and was born in 1870, at Grandy, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hall live at Cambridge, Minnesota, where Mr. Hall is a carpenter and 
contractor. 

Until sixteen years of age Mathew O. Hall attended the public schools 
at Cambridge, in the meanwhile picking up some trade knowledge in his 
father's shop, but not enough to qualify as a carpenter. His inclination, 
however, has always been in the line of mechanics. After working in a 
hardware store for three years he entered the employ of John Norin, who 
owned a garage at Cambridge, and during the three years he was with 
him learned practical details of automobile management and repair. 
Mr. Hall then acquired an automobile of his own and operated it for hire 
and at the same time did repair w r ork in a small way for the next two 
years, putting up with a great deal of personal inconvenience in order to 
get ahead. He then went to Hibbing and worked for six months as a 
mechanic in the garage of Christ Osdick, who then sold out to Claud 
Brackett, and the latter was very glad to have so careful an expert 
mechanic as Mr. Hall had become to remain with him for the next six 
months as manager. 

In 1915 T. P. Cory, a capitalist, suggested to Mr. Hall that he come to 
Buhl and open a garage, or, at first, a reliable automobile repair shop, 
promising financial assistance if it became necessary. For six months 
Mr. Hall did not feel that he was making much headway, but he perse- 
vered and began to also handle automobile supplies of standard quality, 
filled a pressing need in this direction, and at length found himself pros- 
pering. He now conducts a rapidly increasing business, conducts his 
garage under the name of the Buhl Motor Company, handles a full line 
of accessories, and has a first class repair shop. His honest work and 
general courtesy have brought him patronage and many friends. 

Mr. Hall was married December 28, 1918, to Miss Clara Oberg 
Anderson, who was born at Negaunee, Michigan, and is of Swedish 
parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Hall have two sons: Harold O., who is six 
years old; and Stanley M., who is three years old. 

In politics Mr. Hall is a Democrat, being somewhat active in village 
affairs as a good citizen is apt to be, and has served one term as village 
trustee. He belongs to several fraternal organizations at Buhl, these 
including the Odd Fellows and the Loyal Order of Moose. With his 
family he attends the Baptist Church. 

William E. Fay is a mining engineer with headquarters at Chisholm, 
but widely known over the Iron Range district of northern Minnesota. 
Mr. Fay began work that earned him a living when only twelve years of 
age. He w r orked, gained an education, perfected himself in two indus- 
tries, and has never permitted an opportunity to pass for improving his 
own knowledge and proficiency. 

He was born at Tower, Minnesota, June 22, 1891. His father, 
Orval Fay, was of Scotch-English ancestry, a native of Michigan, and in 
that state was a contractor in the lumber industry. As early as 1888 he 
came to northern Minnesota and was engaged in business as a teaming 
contractor in and around Tower until his death in 1896. In 1889, at 



1068 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Tower, he married Miss Eleanor Hobly, who was born in Germany, near 
the Austrian border, February 22, 1870. She came to this country when 
twelve years of age and is stilll living. 

William E. Fay, oldest of three children, all of whom are living, was 
only five years old when his father died, and the family circumstances 
were such as to put him into the ranks of wage earners at the earliest 
possible age. He attended the common schools of Tower, and at the age 
of twelve went to work in a lumber yard in that village piling lumber. 
Soon afterward he was made office boy for the Tower Lumber Company. 
In a few months he became a lumber straightener, his duties being to place 
the lumber in position for the grader. Just a year later he was promoted 
to lumber grader. That is one of the responsible positions in the lumber 
business, and it was what he started out to achieve when he first entered 
a lumber yard. His natural ability and persevering work enabled him 
to realize one of his first important ambitions. 

In 1909 Mr. Fay left Tower to go to Virginia as a grader with the 
Virginia Lumber Company. At the end of two months he had realized 
and determined to remedy a deficiency that was a constantly recurring 
handicap to his advancement. That deficiency was the lack of a well 
rounded education. Giving up his work and using some of his savings, 
he spent the winter in the New Era Business College at Superior and 
completed the regular six months' course in four months. His next 
work was with the Vermillion Iron and Steel Extension property in 
charge of cutting roads and building. After about a month and a half 
he came to Chisholm in March, 1910, and immediately went to work at 
the Clark Mine of the Oliver Iron Mining Company as timekeeper. Four 
months later he was promoted to the office in the ore shipping and 
grading department, where he remained three and a half months. About 
that time he had begun the earnest study of mining engineering, had 
enrolled for a course in that study with the International Correspondence 
School, and as a means of practical training took a position at a small 
salary as an engineer's helper. Withing three months he was doing the 
work of an engineer, and he continued with the Oliver Company until 
the spring of 1914, when he resigned to associate himself with C. A. 
Kimball in the Chisholm Engineering Company. They severed partner- 
ship in 1916, after which Mr. Fay practiced mining engineering alone for 
a time. During that year with C. A. Remington he took a lease on the 
Elizabeth Iron Mine at Chisholm, opened the property and continued 
operations until the spring of 1918, when the mine was exhausted. In 
July, 1918, Mr. Fay and J. H. McNiven took a lease on the Morrow Iron 
Mine, and after having completed the exploration released the property 
to the Kingston Mining Company. This company still operates a mine 
under Mr. Fay's supervision. In the summer of 1919 he opened a sand 
pit, conducting that as a profitable business, and has charge of several 
other nearby mines. The sand business was incorporated as the Fay Sand 
& Gravel Company, making concrete products. Mr. Fay is a practical 
mining man and one of the busy mining engineers of the Range country. 

From June 15, 1918, to October 15, 1919, Mr. Fay was acting post- 
master at Chisholm, and has always given what time he could to the 
promotion of the civic welfare. He was made acting postmaster August 
1, 1921. During the World war he was a leader in the Home Guard 
organization, also assisted in the Liberty Loan campaign. Politically he 
is a Republican, is affiliated with Hematite Lodge No. 274. Ancient Free 
and Accepted Masons, and is a member of the Scottish Rite bodies at 
Duluth and Hibbing. He is also a member of the Kiwanis Club and he 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1069 

and Mrs. Fay are Methodists. One June 23, 1915, he married Miss Delia 
G. Bailey at Sioux City, Iowa. She was born in Minnesota May 29, 1891. 
They have one son, William E. Jr., born in 1917. 

Frank John Nixon has been a resident of Duluth more than thirty 
years. In a business way his name is chiefly associated with the building 
up of one of the large and important wholesale houses of the city, the 
Paine & Nixon Company, of which he is president and treasurer. 

Mr. Nixon was born at Fort Scott, Kansas, June 5, 1870, a son of 
Samuel and Clara Selina (Matthews) Nixon. His father was born in 
the historic locality of Paisley, Scotland, and came to Connecticut when 
about fourteen years of age. Later he went to Kansas and still later to 
Canada, where for many years he was a manufacturer operating plants in 
Three Rivers and Chesterville, Ontario, and on December 1, 1889, took 
his family to Duluth, where he is still living, as are his three children. 
His wife passed away at Duluth, March 13, 1919. 

The oldest of these children, Frank John Nixon, though born in 
Kansas, grew up in Canada and acquired a common school education at 
Three Rivers. In his early youth he worked for his father as a clerk 
and later as a bookkeeper at Chesterville, and for about three years was 
employed as timekeeper and billing clerk for the James Smart Manufac- 
turing Company at Brockville, Ontario. He was not twenty years of age 
when he came to Duluth with his parents at the end of 1889, and soon 
afterward was employed as assistant cashier in the retail department of 
the well known hardware house of Chapin-Wells, now the Marshall- 
Wells Company. Leaving this firm, he became storekeeper with the 
Marinette Iron Works for about four years, following which he was 
assistant storekeeper and timekeeper at Iron Junction, Minnesota, for the 
D. M. & N. Railway for several years. This was followed by a short 
period as a bookkeeper, and from 1893 to 1899 he was a salesman for 
builders supplies. 

Out of this varied experience he acquired the knowledge, the acquaint- 
ance and„ the capital that enabled him to organize the Paine & Nixon 
Company, a close corporation, which was established in January, 1900, 
for the purpose of handling all kinds of builders' supplies, including 
glass, paints, brick and specialties. The business has had a most substan- 
tial and satisfactory growth and development during the past twenty 
years, and the house is one of the prominent ones in the wholesale dis- 
trict. The firm uses about twenty-five thousand square feet of floor space 
at 310-312 West Michigan street. The trade territory is northern Minne- 
sota, North Dakota, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan. Since 
January 1, 1920, the company has confined its lines exclusively as 
distributors of glass and paint. 

The original officials in 1900 were Asa Paine, president and treasurer ; 
P. C. Schmidt, vice president, and F. J. Nixon, secretary and manager. 
Mr. Paine died about four years ago and was succeeded by Mr. Nixon as 
president and treasurer, the other officers being E. F. Achard, of Ottawa, 
Illinois, vice president, and C. S. Nixon, secretary. 

Mr. Nixon has other business interests in Duluth and Minnesota. He 
is a member of the Commercial Club, Duluth Builders Exchange, Rotary 
Club, Duluth Boat Club, United Commercial Travelers, and affiliated 
with the Masons, Knights of Pythias and Elks, and is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Mr. Nixon's first wife was Nancy Brown Morrow, of Towanda, 
Pennsylvania. The one child of this marriage is Harriet Morrow. Later 



1070 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Nixon married Ida Evelyn Callahan Park, who died April 6, 1919. 
The one son of this marriage is Frank John, Jr. Mr. Nixon has also 
adopted the three sons of his wife by her former marriage, William, 
Elmer and James. 

Nels L. Johnson. Although Buhl, Minnesota, has not been as long 
established as some other towns and villages in Saint Louis County, it is 
not deficient in large business houses along almost every line of commer- 
cial importance, nor lacking in able, far-seeing business men. One of the 
latter is found in Nels L. Johnson, who deals in hardware and electrical 
supplies and also owns the "Victory," the leading Cinema house in the 
place. 

Nels L. Johnson was born March 18, 1874, at Ishpeming, Michigan, 
and is a son of Henry and Martha (Larsen) Johnson. Henry Johnson 
was born January 16, 1850. in Denmark, where he grew up on a farm. 
He came to the United States in 1870 and found work in a charcoal blast 
furnace near Ishpeming, and afterward he helped to develop the Lake 
Angeline Mine, keeping himself busy at lumbering and mining. In 1872 
he married Martha Larsen, who had been a schoolmate in Denmark, 
where she was born October 10, 1849. She came to the United States 
two years later than Mr. Johnson. Of their family of seven children 
Nels L. is the oldest. 

Mr. Johnson attended the public schools of Ishpeming until he was 
fourteen years of age, then started to work as a trap door tender in the 
Lake Angeline Mine, with which property he was identified in different 
capacities for some years. Having proved careful and faithful on his 
first job, he was advanced eighteen months later to be skip tender, where 
he remained for one year, then worked for a year as a carpenter for a 
local contractor, at the end of that time returning to the Lake Angeline 
Mine, where he served two more years, in the capacity of pipeman 
helper. For two years after that he was a "lander," which means one 
who sends lumber down into the mine, there being many terms employed 
in mine circles that are but so much Greek to outsiders. 

Mr. Johnson was ambitious, and while he labored hard every day 
at tiresome tasks, many of his evenings and holidays were passed in read- 
ing and study, and in this way he completed the International Corre- 
spondence School course in electricity. After accomplishing this by no 
means easy piece of work, he served for five years as a motorman in the 
mine, and his trustworthiness may be inferred from the fact that in 1906 
the Jones & Laughlin Mining Company, owners of the Lake Angeline 
Mine, sent him to do the electrical work at the opening of the Lincoln 
Mine at Virginia, Saint Louis County. He remained there as electrician 
for two years, when the company sent him to Buhl as electrician for the 
Grant Mine, on the clam shell shovel, where he remained until it shut 
down in 1909. About four months before this he had been called to 
Hibbing, where he installed the electric hoist and other electrical equip- 
ments in the Leetonia Mine. 

Mr. Johnson made so excellent an impression on his fellow citizens 
at Buhl that they were gratified, irrespective of politics, when he was 
appointed postmaster in 1909, in which office he served until 1915. During 
this time he had also been engaged in electrical contracting. After retiring 
from his Government office he bought out the hardware store of Charles 
S. Norton and now carries a full line of hardware together with electrical 
supplies. In 1914 he bought a moving picture house, and as indicative of 
his generosity and patriotism during the World war donated it to war 
uses, particularly the Red Cross. Since the close of the war it has been 
known as the Victory Theater. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1071 

Mr. Johnson was married August 22, 1896, to Miss Ella Carson, who 
is of Irish parentage but was born at Ishpeming, Michigan. They have 
seven children: Gladys M., Florence M., Merle, Lawrence C, Eldred R., 
Norma E. and Robert C. 

In political sentiment Mr. Johnson is a Republican, and at different 
times has been his party's choice for important local offices. For two 
years he was clerk of Great Scott township, and at present is a trustee 
of Buhl village. He belongs to Hematite Lodge No. 274, Free and 
Accepted Masons ; Lodge of Perfection at Hibbing, and Consistory and 
Shrine at Duluth. He is a member also of the Order of Modern 
Woodmen of America at Buhl ; the Elks at Hibbing, and the Odd Fellows 
at Buhl. He has a wide acquaintance over the county, and is held in high 
regard by all who know him. 

Ralph S. O'Neil. Since he first located at Chisholm, Ralph S. 
O'Neil has manifested a keen interest in all that pertains to the better- 
ment of this locality. He has served several times as president of the 
village and also as village treasurer, and in 1912 was elected a commis- 
sioner of St. Louis County and re-elected to that office in 1916. It stands 
to Mr. O'Neil's credit that he has done more for the material betterment 
of this region, particularly with reference to the roads, than any other one 
man. The O'Neil Hotel stands as a specimen of his public-spirit and pride 
in his home place, and he operated it himself until 1920. when he leased, 
in that connection becoming known all over the state. 

Ralph S. O'Neil was born in Jackson County, Wisconsin, September 
11, 1868, a son of Louis B. O'Neil, a farmer, born in Ohio, who moved 
to Wisconsin. During the war between the North and the South, Louis 
O'Neil served in the Union army for there years and eight months, and 
died a few years after the close of the war from the effects of the priva- 
tions he endured as a soldier. He married Eunice Ammond, and they 
had but the one child. 

Ralph S. O'Neil was only two years old when his father died, and his 
mother died six months later. He was taken by an uncle and brought up at 
Black River Falls, Wisconsin, where he acquired the rudiments of an 
education while he was growing up. Since the immature age of eleven 
years he has had to fight the world on his own responsibility and has come 
out a victor in the conflict. His early work was done on farms, and later 
he became a lumberjack in the woods. For a few years he kept a hotel 
at Iron River, Wisconsin, and then, in 1893, he was attracted to the Range 
country and came to Chisholm. Leasing a building then in process of 
construction, he opened the O'Neil House, and this hostelry has continued 
to be a landmark ever since. In 1907 he secured the present site of the 
hotel, but the building then standing was utterly destroyed by the big fire 
of a few months later. Although a heavy loser by the fire, Mr. O'Neil at 
once erected the present hotel building, which, as before stated, he oper- 
ated until he leased the property in 1920 to the regret of the traveling 
public as well as his regular guests, all of whom had learned to admire his 
able management and generous policies. Mr. O'Neil is a Republican. 
He belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights 
of Pythias and the Kiwanis Club. 

On April 26, 1893, Mr. O'Neil was married to Cora Belle Henderson, 
and they have two children : Jean, who is Mrs. Edward Lockhart, and 
Arleigh. Mr. O'Neil is one of the best instances this region affords of 
the self-made man. All that he has or knows has been acquired through 
his own, unaided efforts. Thrown upon the mercies of an unfriendly 
world when but a little child, he has gone straight ahead and not only 



1072 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

supported himself but gathered together a fair portion of earthly pos- 
sessions. At the same time he has won and held the genuine friendship 
of men who are worth-while, for he possesses a simplicity and sincerity 
which cannot help but make a favorable impression and forge bonds 
which nothing but death can sever. 

Gust Cronberg. chief of the Buhl Fire Department, is one of the 
responsible men of his community, and one in whom the utmost depend- 
ence may be placed. He was born in the state of Wermland, Sweden, 
May 8, 1869, a son of Andrew Johnson, who was born in Sweden about 
1853, and died when fifty-seven years of age. By occupation he was a 
farmer and mechanic. His wife was also a native of Sweden, and they 
had six children, of whom Gust Cronberg is the youngest. 

While he began at the extremely early age of eight years to help his 
father, Gust Cronberg was given a public school education at different 
intervals. He was so small when he began working in his father's black- 
smithing shop that he had to stand on a box to reach the bellows, and he 
had a specially small sledge hammer with which he worked at the anvil. 
When he was twelve years old he began driving a team of horses into 
the woods for his father, and did all kinds of farm work, thus making 
himself useful at home until he was nineteen years old. At that time he 
came to the United States, joining his brother at Ishpeming, Michigan, 
where he remained for a short period. He then went to Negaunee, 
Michigan, to work as a carpenter, and for about a year was employed 
there building a mine shaft and engine house. Mr. Cronberg then 
returned to Ishpeming and worked as a carpenter for Lewis Errickson, a 
contractor, until 1893, when he went to Duluth, Minnesota, and for a time 
was employed as a helper with the iron workers on the Lake Avenue 
Bridge. The subsequent five months were spent with a road crew at 
Lester's Park, and he was then employed at carpenter work in West 
Duluth for a year. In the following summer he went to Virginia, Minne- 
sota, where he worked as a carpenter until soon after the fire in 1895, and 
then in June of that year went to Superior, Michigan, to work in the 
Listman Flour Mill as packer, rising to be head packer and holding that 
position for two of the three years he was with that concern. In June, 
1900, when the townsite of Buhl was being cleared, he and John Johnson 
obtained possession of a double lot at what is now State street and Jones 
avenue, and after they had cleared this of trees Mr. Cronberg went to 
Superior and bought a carload of selected lumber and came back with it. 
The partners built a one-story structure and opened a grocery store in it 
on August 8, 1900. The building has been much enlarged and another 
story added, and in 1918 they sold it and their grocery business. In 
February, 1919, Mr. Cronberg was appointed chief of the fire department, 
and with him in charge of this important branch of the city's service his 
fellow citizens feel that their property is safeguarded from loss through 
fire as far as lies in human accountability. Mr. Cronberg has been an 
active factor in the life of Buhl since its organization, and was elected its 
treasurer in 1901, when the town was incorporated, and served through 
1903. In 1904 he was elected president of the village, in 1910 was elected 
recorder, and the next year was elected to succeed himself in that office. 
In 1912 he was elected a trustee, and appointed president by the council 
to fill an unexpired term. In 1918 he was again elected a trustee. For 
nine successive years he was a member of the School Board, then for one 
year was off the board, when he was once more elected to it and served 
for three years more. For three years he was a member of the Township 
Board of Great Scott, and for two years was on the Library Board. Well 



I TH.-DEN FOU 





<£. ^ts^^C'^e&tn^. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1073 

known in Masonry, Chief Cronberg belongs to Hematite Lodge No. 274, 
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Chrisholm, and the Consistory at 
Hibbing. He also belongs to Hibbing Lodge No. 1022, Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks, Buhl Lodge No. 1071, Loyal Order of Moose, 
and Buhl Camp, Modern Woodmen of America. He is a Republican and 
a leader in his party. The Lutheran Church holds his membership. Dur- 
ing the great war he was active in the Liberty Loan drives, and belonged 
to the Home Guards. 

In 1895 Mr. Cronberg was married to Miss Anna Peterson, born in 
Sweden, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Superior. She is 
now deceased, having borne her husband the following children : Grace L., 
Elmer G., Clifford A., Leonard E., and Ernie E., all of whom are living 
except Elmer, who died at the age of seventeen years. On January 25, 
1915, Mr. Cronberg was married to Miss Marie Wadd, who was born in 
Norway and was brought to this country when she was eight years old. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cronberg have three children, Ernest, and twins, who were 
born August 16, 1920. 

John E. Samuelson. To a great extent the prosperity of our great 
country is due to the honest industry, the sturdy perseverance and the 
wise economy that has so prominently characterized the foreign element 
that has entered so largely into our population. By comparison with 
their "old country" surroundings they readily recognize the fact that in 
America lie the greatest opportunities for the man of ambition and energy. 
And because of this many break the ties of home and native land and 
enter earnestly upon the task of gaining in the new world a home and a 
competence. Among this class should be mentioned the late John E. 
Samuelson, who was one of the leaders of the Duluth bar, and by reason 
of years of indefatigable labor and honest effort not only acquired a well- 
merited prosperity and success in his profession, but also richly earned 
the highest esteem of all with whom he was associated. The death of this 
prominent attorney and business man occurred on the 23rd of February, 
1921. 

John E. Samuelson was born July 12, 1869, in Christiania, Norway, 
and came to this country with his stepmother in 1881, at the age of twelve 
years. From the age of seven years until coming to this country he had 
been practically thrown upon his own resource, and thus early learned the 
great lessons of industry and economy. He first located at Eau Claire, 
Wisconsin, where he attended the public schools. A year after his 
arrival here he began to work, and from that time on he made his own 
way. During his early years here he was variously employed, working in 
a restaurant, then in a meat market in Eau Claire, in a grocery store, in a 
saw-mill, in a planing mill, in the woods and on the log drive, and in the 
meantime he was carrying out as best he could his cherished plan in 
securing an education. Leaving the river, he went to work again in a 
grocery store, and from there went into a law office in 1890. There he 
studied law and shorthand, and in 1895 was admitted to the bar of 
Wisconsin. He then entered the law department of the University of 
Minnesota, where in due time he was graduated with the degree of 
Bachelor of Law. Immediately thereafter he returned to Eau Claire and 
engaged in the active practice of law, remaining there until 1898, when he 
moved to St. Paul and entered into a law partnership with Humphrey 
Barton. In 1902 Mr. Samuelson became connected with the claim depart- 
ment of the Great Western Railroad, but afterward became private secre- 
tary to Justice Edwin A. Jaggard, of the Minnesota Supreme Court, with 
whom he remained for two years. He then went to International Falls, 



1074 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

where he practiced his profession for one year, and at the end of that time 
hecame court reporter for Judge Stanton in the Eighteenth Judicial 
District for one year. He then became associated with William E. Culkin 
in the practice of law at Duluth, being engaged in a general practice from 
1909 until July, 1915, when he was appointed assistant city attorney under 
Henry F. Greene, and upon the death of Mr. Greene in December, 1915, 
was appointed city attorney, in which position he was serving at the time 
of his death. 

Politically Mr. Samuelson was an earnest supporter of the Republican 
party. Fraternally he was a member of Duluth Lodge No. 133, Benevo- 
lent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he was a past exalted ruler, 
and in that order he received distinctive preferment, having served as 
president of the State Elks Association. He was also a member of the 
Sons of Norway. He was one of the directors of the League of Minne- 
sota Municipalities and was also a member of the Charter Commission of 
the city of Duluth. 

On November 23, 1898, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mr. Samuelson 
was married to Margaret E. Young, the daughter of John Young, at that 
time living in Montrose. Minnesota. Both of Mrs. Samuelson's parents 
are natives of Ireland. Her father came to this country in 1849, and first 
located in New York, but in 1852 came to Minnesota, settling on a home- 
stead near Montrose. He became a man of considerable local prominence 
and influence, serving in minor offices in Wright County and three terms 
as treasurer of that county. He is still living at the advanced age of 
ninety-one years. Of the four children born to him and his wife, Mrs. 
Samuelson is the youngest. She received a good public school education 
and then attended the University of Minnesota, where she was graduated 
with the class of 1896. She is a woman of strong force of character, 
though with marked domestic traits, and during the World war activities 
she performed very effective work in the various drives for the raising 
of funds for the Red Cross and other objects. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Samuelson were born two children, one of whom died in infancy, the sur- 
vivor being Irene, who was born on the 9th day of July, 1903, and is now 
a student in the Duluth High School. 

In addition to his creditable career in one of the most exacting of pro- 
fessions Mr. Samuelson also proved an honorable member of the body 
politic, and was essentially a man among men. He grew to manhood 
surrounded by those conditions which tend to develop industry, integrity 
and frugality. How well he retained these lessons of his early training 
was shown by his later life. He enjoyed a large acquaintance among the 
people. Being public spirited and identified with the common interests in 
various capacities and by proving himself competent and trustworthy he 
became one of the leading citizens of our community. In all his dealings 
with his fellowmen, whether of a public or private nature, he always rec- 
ognized the fact that the rights and privileges of others were of equal 
importance with his own, and governed himself accordingly, because of 
which he enjoyed the confidence and good will of the entire community. 

John McDowell, superintendent of the Morris. Burt, Sellers, Pool, 
Philbin and Winnifred Mines of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, has 
been identified with the iron ore operations on the Mesaba Range for as 
long a period perhaps as any man still in the active service. He came 
here about the time the village of Hibbing was located, and his work has 
made him one of the invaluable men in the great organization of the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1075 

Mr. McDowell was born in Ontonagon County, Michigan, December 
27, 1861, son of James and Jane (Johnston) McDowell. His mother was 
born in Canada and his fsther came from Ireland at the age of fifteen 
with his grandmother. James McDowell spent his active career as a 
machinist in the copper region of Ontonagon and other counties of 
northern Michigan. 

John McDowell was one of a large family of thirteen children, nine 
of whom are still living. He had to be satisfied with a common school 
education acquired in his native state, and since the age of fifteen has been 
doing for himself, and has achieved his wide range of knowledge and 
expert skill largely by practical contact with life. The first regular work 
he did was "tending jigs" in a copper mine. He had a tendency toward 
mechanical lines, and for seven or eight years was employed as a machinist 
in the shops of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company at Ishpeming, 
Michigan. 

Mr. McDowell came to the Mesaba Range in 1892. His first service 
rendered here was as master mechanic for the Minnesota Iron Company 
at the Canton Mine at Biwabik. Leaving that employment in 1896 he 
moved to Hibbing, where he was master mechanic for the Sellers Ore 
Company, later in a similar capacity for the Lake Superior Consolidated 
Company, then became foreman in the Burt Pit and superintendent of 
the Morris Mine. With the expansion of the Oliver - Iron Mining Com- 
pany's interests his own range of duties and reponsibilities were increased 
until he became superintendent of the various mines noted at the begin- 
ning of this article. These offices in themselves are an evidence of his 
efficiency. 

Mr. McDowell has also been identified in a public spirited way with 
municipal and other developments in the village of Hibbing. He is a 
Republican, is affiliated with the Scottish Rite Masonic bodies and the 
Mystic Shrine, and is one of the real men of affairs in the Range country. 
' August 10, 1884. Mr. McDowell married Margaret Daley, of Eagle 
River, Michigan. Their four children are: Russell J., William Melville, 
Llewellyn J. and Helen. The oldest son, Russell, is superintendent of the 
washing plant at the Hill-Annex Mine of the Interstate Mining Company. 
Llewellyn performed his share of patriotic duty during the World war 
in the United States Navy, at first as a wireless operator and later in the 
electrical department. For a time he was on duty on the New Jersey 
and later on the Dolphin, patrolling in the South Seas. 

Alphonse L. Bergeron, inspector of public buildings at Chisholm, is 
one of the best known men of St. Louis County, and a dependable and 
efficient official of wide and varied experience. He was born in Quebec, 
Canada, December 18, 1860, a son of Modest Bergeron, also born in 
Quebec, of French ancestry, although the family was established in 
Canada 300 years ago. By occupation he was a farmer. The mother 
of Alphonse L. Bergeron was Victoire Drehcher before her marriage, and 
she, too, came of French ancestry. Of the ten children in the family, 
Alphonse L. Bergeron was the sixth in order of birth. 

When he was eleven years old he began doing farm work in the 
summer, while in the winters he continued his studies in the common 
schools, and he kept this up until he was twenty years old. At that time 
he came to the United States, arriving here March 4, 1881, and locating 
at Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he found employment in the mills, and 
he also worked at the carpenter trade. He was employed at Saint Paul 
and Stillwater, Minnesota, keeping in these localities for about seven 
years. In 1888 he went to Tower, Minnesota, and continued to work as a 

Vol. Ill — 10 



1076 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

carpenter until 1894, and then went to Rainy Lake prospecting for gold. 
After spending fourteen months in this search he located at Eveleth, 
Minnesota, and carried on contracting and building until 1901, which 
year saw his advent in Chisholm. Here he continued his contracting and 
building business until the fall of 1919, when he was appointed inspector 
of public buildings. Mr. Bergeron built the first bank at Chisholm, the 
Miners State Bank, and a number of other business blocks and private 
residences. During 1919 he served as village trustee, and has been 
re-elected for another term of three years. Since 1913 he has been on 
the School Board, and he organized the fire department, of which he was 
the first chief, which office he held until the early part of 1908. In the 
spring of 1909 he was re-appointed fire chief and served until 1910, when 
the department was placed on a full time paid basis. In 1894 Mr. 
Bergeron was naturalized, and since then has given the Democratic party 
his support. Fraternally he belongs to Chisholm Lodge No. 1334, Benev- 
olent and Protective Order of Elks, Loyal Order of Moose No. 226 of 
Chisholm ; Chisholm Aerie No. 462, F. O. E. ; Chisholm Camp, Modern 
Woodmen of America, and the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is a 
Catholic. 

During the late war Mr. Bergeron was a member of a sub-committee 
to solicit for the Liberty Loans, and rendered valuable service in that 
respect, as well as contributing very liberally on his personal account to 
all of the drives. 

In September, 1896, Mr. Bergeron was married to Miss Alma Graton, 
of New York state, whose ancestry is French, but dates back in American 
to a period prior to the Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Bergeron have two 
children, Alice V. and Arthur L. Mr. Bergeron is one of the leading 
citizens of Chisholm, and has done much to advance its interests and 
develop its natural resources. His long connection with the building 
trade makes him particularly well fitted to discharge his present duties, 
and the people of the region have made an excellent selection in placing 
him in charge of their public buildings. 

E. W. R. Butcher. The office of biography is not to give voice to 
a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather 
to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the con- 
sensus of opinion on the part of his fellow citizens. In touching upon 
the life history of the subject of this sketch the writer aims to avoid 
fulsome encomium and extravagant praise ; yet he desires to hold up for 
consideration those facts which have shown the distinction of a true, 
useful and honorable life — a life characterized by perseverance, energy 
and well-defined purpose. To do this will be but to reiterate the dictum 
pronounced upon the man by the people who have known him long 
and well. 

E. W. R. Butcher, who holds the responsible position of chief engi- 
neer at the Northern Ore Mines for the Republic Iron and Steel Com- 
pany, was born in Troy, New York, July 25, 1885, and is the fourth in 
order of birth of the five children who were born to his parents. His 
father, James Butcher, was a native of England and came to the United 
States about 1870 and located in New York state. Later he removed to 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and engaged in the hotel business, in which 
business he is still successfully employed. E. W. R. Butcher received his 
educational training in the public schools of Pittsburgh, also attending 
the Pittsburgh Academy. He completed his studies in Western Uni- 
versity, now called the University of Pittsburgh, where he was gradu- 
ated with the class of 1906, with the degree of Mining Engineer. Soon 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1077 

afterward he went to Nevada and engaged in engineering work for 
about a year in the Bull Frog and Tonapah field. Following this he went 
to Nicaraugua, Central America, where he served for about nine months 
as a mining engineer in the gold fields. From there he went to California, 
where for a time he was engaged in engineering work for one of the 
large hydro-electric companies operating there. His next employment 
was with the Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company at Pitts- 
burgh as a draftsman, remaining with that company until August 23, 
1909, when he entered the employ of the Republic Iron and Steel Com- 
pany, being appointed chief engineer of their Northern Ore Mines at 
Duluth in 1918, which position he still fills. Thoroughly qualified for his 
work by both training and experience, Mr. Butcher has performed his 
duties in this connection with an ability and success that has won for 
him the approval of the officials of his company and the admiration of 
his fellows. He has been a director on two committees of the Duluth 
Engineers' Club and a member of the American Institute of Mining 
Engineers. He possesses to a marked degree those sterling traits of 
character which command public confidence and regard, and he also 
belongs to that class of representative men of affairs who promote the 
public welfare while advancing individual success. 

William I. Prince, for many years a banker in Duluth, had the 
distinction of serving as first mayor of the city under the commission 
form of government, and during the past two or three years has served 
as secretary of the Commercial Club of Duluth, supplying the place and 
service of younger men who went to war. 

Mr. Prince was born at Camden, Ohio, October 11, 1867, son of 
George C. and Lucy A. (Hill) Prince. He is of old New England 
ancestry. His first American ancestor, Daniel Prince, was born in Eng- 
land about 1655 and came to the Colonies as a soldier in the British army, 
and after his discharge remained in New England, where he died in 1728. 
His grandson, Abel, was born in Connecticut in 1763 and lived out his 
life in that state. William Prince, grandfather of William I. Prince; was 
born in Connecticut in 1791 and died in 1842, having spent his active 
life as a merchant, for many years near Buffalo, New York. George C. 
Prince was born in Erie County, New York, December 10, 1830, and 
after the death of his father came with his widowed mother to Ohio, 
where he spent most of his life and where he died at the age of eighty- 
seven in the college city of Oberlin. He began his career with a limited 
education as a farmer, but laid the foundation of a substantial fortune 
as a sawmill and lumber man, at one time operating half a dozen mills. 
He was also identified with banking and finally retired. He was a 
Republican, interested in the welfare of his community, and held some 
township and village offices and was also entrusted with the manage- 
ment of estates. He was a member of the Congregational Church. He 
married Lucy A. Hill in 1861, and their six children are all living, William 
I. being the second. 

William I. Prince attended public schools, the Oberlin Business Col- 
lege, and spent several terms in Oberlin College. Though reared in a 
good home of well-to-do parents, he showed his initiative and began 
earning money when about fourteen years of age, working out on farms 
during the summer seasons both for his father and other farmers. He 
received much valuable business training during two years as an employe 
of the Oberlin postoffice, and in 1889 began his banking career as clerk 
and collector in the Citizens National Bank of Oberlin, where he remained 
six months. 



1078 DULUTH AND ST. LOUTS COUNTY 

For the past thirty years his activities have identified him with north- 
ern Michigan and northern Minnesota. Leaving Ohio, he became book- 
keeper in the First National Bank of Escanaba, where he remained two 
years, for ten years was cashier of the First National Bank of Bessemer, 
Michigan, and was then elected president of that institution, an office he 
still occupies. While a resident of Bessemer he served three successive 
terms as mayor. 

Mr. Prince came to Duluth in December, 1902, and, associated with 
others, organized the City National Bank, becoming its cashier and a 
director, offices he occupied nine years, when he sold his interests. About 
that time he was the choice of the citizens as the first mayor under the 
commission charter and ably administered the municipal government four 
years. When America entered the war the secretary and assistant secre- 
tary of the Duluth Commercial Club went into the army, and Mr. Prince 
was drafted for the duties of secretary, an office he still holds. He was 
president of the Commercial Club in 1909. 

Other important business interests are as a director in the Gogebic 
Powder Company, Brotherton Iron Mining Company, Sunday Lake Iron 
Mining Company, vice president of the Midland Trust & Savings Bank 
of St. Paul, and president of the Otsego Land Corporation. He is a 
member of the Duluth Boat Club, the Congregational Church, and is a 
Republican voter, but his only public office in Duluth has been that of 
mayor. 

October 7, 1897, at Waupaca, Wisconsin, he married Mary A. Bald- 
win, whose people came from New Hampshire and New York state. 
They are the parents of four sons : George B.. Gerald C, W. I. Prince, 
Jr., and Milton H. The oldest son was born November 12, 1898. 

J. O. Lenning. With the enormous prestige of Duluth as a distribut- 
ing and wholesale center for the northwestern country the wholesale 
grocery house of Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company has been intimately 
and vitally connected for many years. The present great company, with 
its model plant in close proximity to the unrivalled rail and water trans- 
portation facilities, is the result of consolidation of two older organi- 
zations. 

The older of the constituent houses in the Gowan-Lenning-Brown 
Company was the Wright-Clarkson Mercantile Company, three of whose 
members are part of the modern organization, W. S. Brown, president, 
R. H. Redman, treasurer, and J. O. Lenning. vice president and general 
manager. The other factor in the combination was the Gowan-Peyton- 
Twohy Company, which on the death of Andrew Gowan, a prominent 
lumberman, who was succeeded by Chester A. Congdon as president, 
became the Gowan-Peyton-Cohgdon Company. These two companies 
were consolidated in 1913 and at that time additional warehouses were 
acquired for the increased stocks, and in the past seven years immense 
strides have been made in the manufacturing end of the business. The 
new and modern building occupies a site of 320 by 260 feet, the main 
portion being four stories in height. 

J. O. Lenning is a business man of wide and varied experience, and 
well qualified for his responsibilities in the Gowan-Lenning-Brown Com- 
pany. He was born in Lee County, Illinois, August 22, 1859. a son of 
O. O. and Christie (Maakstad) Lenning. His father, a native of Nor- 
wav. brought his wife and oldest child to America during the '50s and 
became an Illinois farmer in Lee County, but in 1883 removed to Iowa 
and lived on a farm in that state until his death. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1079 

J. O. Lenning, the second oldest of four children, acquired his educa- 
tion in the public schools of Illinois, attended Mt. Morris Academy in 
that state, and subsequently the Bryant & Stratton Business College of 
Chicago. At the age of seventeen he was buying grain and subsequently 
was manager for a co-operative company. Leaving those business asso- 
ciates, he entered a commercial college at Chicago, and had a varied 
metropolitan employment in that city. 

In the spring of 1882, then a young man of twenty-three, Mr. Lenning 
went to Hamilton County, Iowa, near the town of Radcliffe, to improve 
and develop a farm previously purchased by his father. That was a 
year of strenuous labor in the preparation of a home and other improve- 
ments for the family. At the end of this year he located at Ellsworth, 
Iowa, where he engaged in the real estate business and for a time con- 
ducted the postoffice in connection. Later the real estate business 
expanded as a bank, known as the State Bank of Ellsworth, of which he 
was cashier. In 1889 Mr. Lenning entered upon his duties as county 
treasurer of Hamilton County, Iowa, and served four years. In 1894 
he became assistant chief clerk of the Lower House of the Iowa State 
Legislature, and following that was cashier of the Hamilton County State 
Bank at Webster City, Iowa. His duties with that institution continued 
until he came to Minnesota. During his management this bank increased 
its deposits from a hundred thousand to a million dollars. 

Leaving Iowa, Mr. Lenning on coming to Minnesota engaged in the 
wholesale grocery business at Crookston as president of the Lenning- 
Brown-Wright Company. With the sale of his interests he removed to 
Duluth in 1906 and became vice president and general manager of the 
Wright-Clarkson Mercantile Company, mentioned above, and subse- 
quently was an influential factor in the consolidation of 1913 as described. 

Mr. Lenning is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and 
Shriner and is a past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter and past 
commander of the Knights Templars. He has always been a strong 
Republican in politics. He married Miss Carrie Cragwick, of Norwegian 
parentage. Six children were born to their marriage and four are still 
living. 

A. J. Robillard, though little past thirty years of age, is a veteran 
in experience on the mechanical side of automobile construction and 
operation, and is proprietor of the well-known R. & R. Garage at 315- 
317 East Superior street. This garage is a Willard storage battery serv- 
ice station, is the authorized local agency in Duluth for the Detroit Elec- 
tric and Milburn Electric cars, and the service conducted by Mr. Robillard 
has achieved a widely appreciated reputation over Duluth for the specially 
fine quality of electrical work done there. 

Mr. Robillard was born in Minneapolis November 1, 1888, son of 
Mr. and Mrs. Emidy J. Robillard, natives of Canada. His father came 
to this country at the age of twenty-one and is now living in Montana, 
at the age of sixty-two. 

Third in a family of five children, A. J. Robillard acquired his early 
education in the schools of Minneapolis, came to Duluth at the age of 
fourteen, and for three years attended school. His practical business 
experience has been nearly altogether in mechanical lines. For one year 
he worked in the Rein Boiler Shop, for a year and a half was employed 
by Mr. E. J. Filiatrault as a mechanic, then worked for Mr. Russell two 
years, and in 1910 started in business for himself. His associate was 
Ed Romoieaux, and they established the R. & R. Garage. Mr. Romoieaux 
withdrew in 1911 and since then Mr. Robillard has been in business 



1080 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

alone. He continued in business at his first location until 1912, and since 
then has been at 315-317 East Superior street. He sells and maintains 
the Willard storage battery service for gasoline and electric cars, and 
has built up and transacted a large volume of business in Duluth as a 
dealer in both the Detroit and Millburn electric cars. He covers a large 
section of territory for the Willard Battery Service, including a mail 
order business. 

Mr. Robillard is an expert in nearly all phases of automobile opera- 
tion and particularly in electrical installation. He has invented a certain 
type of electric door which has stood the test of hard usage in his own 
garage and office. He has also assembled an electrical truck made out 
of old cars that had been scrapped, and that truck is a big labor saver 
and permits Mr. Robillard to give increased service to his customers. He 
has also patented an automatic cutout used by the electric car owners 
which effects a considerable saving in worry and money in electricity. 

Mr. Robillard is a member of the Duluth Automobile Association, 
belongs to the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, the Boy Scouts' Association, 
also one of the clubs in the West End and is a member of the Elks 
Lodge and the Cathedral Church. On June 24, 1913, he married in 
West Duluth Albertina Gilson, who was reared and educated in this city. 
They have one son, Arthur Dale Robillard, born February 12, 1919. 

Albert E. Bickford has served for more than a score of years as 
city clerk of Virginia, and no citizen has taken more vital and earnest 
interest in the development and progress of this fine little municipality 
of the great Mesaba Range. He arrived in this section of Minnesota on 
the 9th of February, 1893, when the site of the present thriving little 
city of Virginia was marked only by a railway station, eight or ten 
saloons, a hotel, a meat market, two grocery stores and two boarding 
houses. The barren and desolate little mining town offered few attrac- 
tions to any person save one of vision, and Mr. Bickford in here estab- 
lishing his home as a pioneer had faith and prescience in regard to the 
future. He has been closely associated with the development and upbuild- 
ing of the city and the surrounding districts, and the years have fully 
justified his confidence in the obscure mining town of the earlier days. 

Upon his arrival in Virginia Mr. Bickford proceeded to find quarters 
in which to install the equipment which he had obtained from two old 
printing offices and which he brought into requisition in establishing, for 
Hand & Hannaford, the newspaper now known as the Virginia Enter- 
prise. He continued as foreman of this pioneer paper until 1900, save 
for the year 1897, during which he published the Hibbing News at 
Hibbing, this county. He made the paper a potent force in furthering 
the civic and material development and advancement of the community, 
and has long been a popular leader in community sentiment and action. 
After having three times been elected clerk of the village of Virginia he 
became the first incumbent of the office after the village was incor- 
porated as a city in 1900, and thus his service has been consecutive for 
a period of twenty-two years. In the village days he was able to carry 
the official records in his pocket, but since 1906 he has found it necessary 
to give his undivided time and attention to the handling of the large 
volume of official duties that devolve upon him. Mr. Bickford met with 
virtually total loss of all his possessions in the two disastrous fires that 
have visited Virginia, but his loyalty and faith never faltered and he 
has taken pride in the splendid progress that has been made by his home 
city. Here he is now the only resident member of the old volunteer fire 
department, the existence of which terminated in 1908, upon the estab- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1081 

lishing of the present paid department. He has been for several years 
secretary of the Virginia Commercial Club, of which he is a charter mem- 
ber, as is he also of the local Kiwanis Club ; of Virginia Lodge No. 1003, 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; Northern Light Lodge No. 127, 
Knights of Pythias ; Virginia Aerie No. 107, Fraternal Order of Eagles ; 
Iron Range Lodge No. 1117, Loyal Order of Moose; and Virginia Camp 
No. 2955, Modern Woodmen of America. In politics Mr. Bickford is a 
stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and he has 
been active and influential in its local councils and campaign work. At 
the time of the nation's participation in the World war he was a vigorous 
worker in the furtherance of the various Governmental loan drives in 
this section of the state, and had charge of the local drive for the second 
Liberty Loan as did he also of the alien registration. He was a first 
sergeant in the Minnesota Motor Corps, and he has a complete record of 
every man who enlisted from District No. 4 (Virginia), from the time 
of induction into the service until the present. 

Mr. Bickford has made a careful and exhaustive study of city man- 
agement and municipal government, and is a firm advocate of centralized 
control for a city as well as for a private business enterprise. He has 
-maintained a careful and punctilious supervision of the fiscal affairs of 
Virginia, and by his counsel in behalf of wise economy in appropriations 
and the general administration of city affairs he has done much to place 
Virginia upon its present stable and effective financial basis. 

Mr. Bickford was born at Stanwood, Michigan, on the 23d day of 
August, 1876, and is a son of Edward E. and Mary (Collins) Bickford, 
the former of whom was born at Augusta, Maine, August 4, 1856, and 
the latter was born at St. Louis, Ohio, in 1856. The father was for many 
years actively identified with the lumbering industry in Michigan, and he 
is now deceased, his widow being a loved member of the home circle of 
her son Albert E. of this s'ketch. With the exception of three years 
passed in the public schools of Minneapolis Albert E. Bickford has gained 
his education entirely through self-discipline and active association with 
the practical affairs of life. He was long connected with newspaper work, 
and this association has been consistently termed the equivalent of a lib- 
eral education. When but five years old he was a vociferous and inde- 
pendent newsboy and bootblack in the city of Minneapolis, and at the 
age of thirteen years he assumed the dignified office of printer's devil in 
the office of the Gogebic Iron Record at Ironwood, Michigan, he having 
there gained his knowledge of the printing business and his association 
with this paper having continued until he came to Virginia. Mr. Bickford 
is one of the best-known and most popular citizens of the Virginia 
community. 

Richard Hodge as a boy in Cornwall began mining work in the 
famous tin mines of southwestern England, but for more than a third 
of a century has been a practical and expert mine worker in the mining 
district of Michigan and northern Minnesota, and for many years past 
has been connected with the Shenango Furnace Company's Mines at 
Chisholm. He is now a superintendent of the Shenango Mine there. 

He was born in Cornwall, England, September 18, 1865. His father, 
Charles Hodge, had come to this country in 1862, and for two years was 
employed as a miner in Ogden County, Minnesota. He determined fully 
to realize his ambition to become an American citizen and returned to 
England for the purpose of bringing his wife to America. He was 
unable to persuade her to leave her native country, and eventually he 
gave up his cherished hope of coming to America and lived in England 



1082 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

and followed the mining business until his death in 1895, at the age of 
sixty-five. He had married Ellen Hicks, also of Cornwall, in 1856. 

Richard Hodge was the sixth in a family of nine children, and six of 
them are still living. Nearly all his education was acquired in the school 
of practical experience. He was ten and a half years of age when he 
first went to work in a tin mine "on the floors." A few months later he 
was "broken in" to practical mining operations as his father's partner, 
working two thousand feet under ground. He went through that working 
apprenticeship for two years, then served in a similar capacity with 
another man, and by the time he was fifteen he was a fully qualified 
miner and for the next five years had his own partner. 

In 1886. when about twenty years of age, Mr. Hodge took passage on 
the steamship Oregon and on the 13th of February of that year landed 
at New York Harbor. Ths first mining place to attract him was Ishpem- 
ing, Michigan, where for three years he was employed as a miner at the 
old Lake Angeline Mine. Leaving there, he and four companions made a 
trip as far west as Butte, Montana, and put in much of their time study- 
ing the varying methods of mining, and information he acquired during 
that investigation has always been of great value to him. After an 
absence of six months he returned to the Lake Angeline Mine, and 
remained there until he had completed a veteran's service of about 
twelve years. 

He left there at the direction and as a result of the personal selection 
by Captain Walters, then general manager for the Jones-Laughlin Mining 
Company, as the concern was known in Michigan, though in Minnesota 
it is the Interstate Mining Company. Captain Walters employed Mr. 
Hodge to come to the Mesaba Range, where for three years he was shift 
boss. Capt. Henry Tallen, mining captain of the Shenango Mine, then 
induced him to enter the service of that company, and the first three years 
he was shift boss, was then promoted to captain in 1908, and the follow- 
ing year was made general mining captain, an office and title he held for 
about three years. Since September, 1911, he has been general superin- 
tendent of this mine, one of the largest and most important in the 
Chisholm district. 

Mr. Hodge acquired American citizenship as soon as practicable after 
coming to this country and as a voter has been identified with the Repub- 
lican party. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order in Hematite Lodge 
No. 274, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and 
belongs to Sir Humphrey Davey Lodge No. 244 of the Sons of St. 
George. 

July 11. 1891. he married Miss Gertrude Hamburg. She was born in 
Norway July 12. 1871, and was a child when brought to this country. To 
their marriage were born the following children : Ellen Johanna, Freda 
Charlotta, Frederick Charles, two daughters each named Lillian Elsie, 
the first having died at the age of eighteen months, and Richard. 

The son Frederick is an ex-service man, having enlisted at Duluth 
March 4, 1917, at the age of twenty. He was sent to Corpus Christi, 
Texas, for training with the Fifth Engineers, and accompanied that 
organization overseas to France in August. 1917, landing at Brest, and 
was gradually moved to front line operations. He was on active duty for 
sixty-six days. After the armistice was signed he returned to the United 
States on board the vessel George Washington at the same time as the 
Presidential party of Mr. Wilson. 

Archibald W. Graham, M. D. Medical science in the twentieth 
century has reached great heights, and the natural question may arise, 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1083 

why is this true? A comprehensive enough answer, however, would 
require much space in the telling, and, after all, it may be sufficiently 
summed up in the statement that twentieth century physicians are largely 
responsible. To gain eminence in the medical profession today a physi- 
cian must be an inexhaustive student, a daring experimenter and an 
assured scientist. Not every earnest student of medicine finds time or 
opportunity for such profound studies, but his trend is in that direction, 
and it is usually found that the best informed man in any community on 
every subject will be the general medical practitioner. Attention may thus 
be called to Dr. Archibald W. Graham, who is prominent professionally 
and a foremost citizen of Chisholm, Minnesota, with a practice that 
extends to other points. 

Doctor Graham was born October 10, 1879, at Fayetteville, North 
Carolina, and is a son of Alexander and Kate (Sloan) Graham. Both 
parents were born in North Carolina and both are of Scotch-Irish extrac- 
tion. They were married in 1877, and Doctor Graham is the second of 
their family of nine children. His father is still active as a lawyer 
although in his seventy-sixth year, the family home still continuing to be 
in Columbus County. Archibald W. Graham attended school at Charlotte 
and was graduated from the high school in 1897. He secured his medical 
education in the University of North Carolina and the University of 
Maryland, being graduated from the former institution in 1901, with the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts, and from the latter in 1905, with the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine. During his senior year in the medical school of 
the University of Maryland he was demonstrator of anatomy. 

During 1906 Doctor Graham did post graduate work in pathology in 
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and spent the three succeeding 
years as an interne in the New York Post Graduate, the Lying-in, the 
Willard Parker and Columbus Hospitals. In 1909 he came to Chisholm 
and was associated here with Rood Hospital until 1916, since when he has 
carried on a general practice, spending two months of each year in post 
graduate work, specializing in the New York hospitals in the eye, ear, 
nose and throat, his patients in Chisholm being benefited by his observa- 
tion and experience. 

Doctor Graham is an enthusiast on out-door sports and gives a measure 
of credit for his athletic build and uniform sound health to the good for- 
tune that in boyhood and youth he was a ball player, in which he made a 
somewhat notable reputation. While attending medical college he played 
on the baseball and football teams, and during the summers of 1905 and 
1906 played professional baseball, being outfielder on the New York 
National League team. After coming to St. Louis County he served one 
year as health officer at Chisholm. 

Doctor Graham was married September 29, 1915, to Miss Alicia 
Madden, who was born at Rochester, Minnesota, and is of Scotch-Irish 
ancestry. Dr. and Mrs. Graham are members of the Presbyterian 
Church. In his political attitude he is a Democrat, and fraternally is a 
Mason, belonging to Hematite Lodge No. 274, Free and Accepted 
Masons, at Chisholm. 

Edward P. Towne. No member of the Duluth bar occupies a higher 
position in the estimation of the people than does Edward P. Towne, 
attorney. During his years of practice here he has built up a large 
clientele and is regarded as an exceedingly safe counselor in all matters 
pertaining to legal questions. It speaks well for any man who may have 
the confidence of the people to such an extent that he is regarded as 
specially adapted to the settlement of estates and matters of equity. His 



1084 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

services are likewise in large demand where the drawing of intricate 
papers is involved, especially incorporation affairs, and he enjoys not only 
the respect and confidence of his professional brethren, but the good will 
of all with whom he has had dealings. 

Edward P. Towne was born June 16, 1867, at Canandaigua, New 
York, and is the youngest of the four children born to the union of 
Edward P. and Eliza H. (Eddy) Towne. On the paternal side the ances- 
tral line runs back to Scottish origin. Mr. Towne's father was a lawyer 
by profession, following that vocation in Chicago, Illinois, from the time 
of being admitted to the bar until his death in 1867, at the early age of 
thirty-three years. Edward P. Towne received his elementary education 
in the public schools of Troy. New York, later attending the Mohegan 
Lake Military Academy at Peekskill. New York, and Union College at 
Schenectady, New York, where he was graduated in 1888, with the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts ; his alma mater conferred on him the degree 
of Master of Arts in 1891. He graduated from the Albany Law School 
in 1890, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and immediately there- 
after went to Chicago, where for about two years he was managing clerk 
for John P. Wilson. In 1892 Mr. Towne came to Duluth and engaged 
in the practice of law, in which he has been engaged here continuously 
since, his practice consisting principally of real estate, probate and cor- 
poration law. As a lawyer, he evinces a familiarity with legal principles 
and a ready perception of facts, together with the ability to apply the one 
to the other, which has won him the reputation of a sound and safe prac- 
titioner, and by a straightforward, honorable course he has built up a 
large and lucrative legal business, being financially successful beyond the 
average of his calling. 

Politically Mr. Towne gives his support to the Republican party. 
From 1898 to 1902 he rendered effective service as a member of the 
Health Board of the city of Duluth. From 1900 to 1902 he was on the 
staff of Governor Van Sant, with the rank of colonel, and subsequently 
he became a first lieutenant and adjutant, captain and major of the Third 
Battalion of the Minnesota Home Guards. In religious faith he is a 
Presbyterian. On November 7, 1900, Mr. Towne was married to Rachel 
Moon, and they are the parents of three children, one son and two 
daughters. Because of his professional success and his splendid personal 
character Mr. Towne is held in the highest esteem throughout his 
community. 

Thorwald B. Hamre. Northern Minnesota offers some of the most 
unsurpassed opportunities to the alert and capable business men to be 
found in the country, and because of this men of superior caliber have 
been attracted to this region. Coming here thoroughly imbued with a 
determination to wrest a fortune from the forces of nature, they have 
been rewarded for their efforts way beyond their original expectations, 
although to some of them success has come along other lines than those 
first entered. Thorwald B. Hamre is one of the men of Hibbing who has 
found prosperity in the Mesaba Range country, and is now conducting 
one of the leading mercantile establishments of this region, and is con- 
nected with a number of other important enterprises. 

Mr. Hamre came into the world in a far-away land, for he was born 
in Norway, December 30, 1879. He is a son of T. T. Hamre, who was a 
farmer. Losing his wife when Thorwald B. Hamre was very small, 
T. T. Hamre, with his four children, emigrated to the United States in 
1883, having been induced to make the long and venturesome journey by 
his brother, then living in the southern part of Minnesota. Upon his 




THORWALD B. HAM RE 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1085 

arrival in the state T. T. Hamre bought 160 acres of land in Lyon County 
and began to farm. On this farm he spent the remainder of his life, 
dying in 1901, five years after he had taken out his naturalization papers. 

It was on the farm in Lyon County, Minnesota, that T. B. Hamre was 
reared, and he attended the neighboring schools. After the death of his 
father he remained on this farm, conducting it on his own responsibility 
for a time, but left it for Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he worked in a 
bakery for some months, a part of his duties being the delivery of bread. 
The winter he was twenty-one he went into the woods near Sandstone, 
Wisconsin, where he started to work as a lumberjack, but his experience 
at this was very brief. Mr. Hamre then spent a few months in a lumber 
camp at Ramsey, Michigan. Following this experience he returned to 
Minneapolis and resumed work delivering bread. As the summer season 
advanced he went to Cottonwood, Minnesota, and worked as a harvest 
hand, and from there went on to Duluth. In 1902, after a short period 
spent in a lumber camp, he came to the Mesaba Range and was employed 
for a short period by the Bailey Lumbering Company near Virginia. 
Subsequently he looked after an engine on the Great Northern Railroad, 
and from there he traveled to Buhl and there cut wood for a time, until 
he secured a job piling timber at the Grant Mine. His next position was 
firing a boiler for a stationary engine, and later he operated a hoisting 
engine for the Interstate Mining Company. 

Returning to his old home, he spent two years in farming and operat- 
ing a pool hall, but then returned to Buhl and resumed work with the 
Interstate Mining Company. For the next few months Mr. Hamre was 
engaged at various kinds of work, having toward the last charge of a 
night shift operating the electrical department. He then came to Carson 
Lake, Minnesota, and helped to install the electric plant of the Leetonia 
Mine, and upon its completion became foreman of its operation. While 
he was thus engaged he with Earl Bracegirdle started a small store at 
Carson Lake. Some two years later Mr. Bracegirdle was made post- 
master, and the postofhce was kept in the store, and this attracted addi- 
tional trade, and the business flourished. Having decided to study medi- 
cine, Mr. Bracegirdle wanted to attend medical college, and so sold his 
interest to Mr. Hamre, who also assumed the duties of postmaster. He 
added to the original building, greatly increased his stock, added all kinds 
of merchandise and a meat market, and prospered greatly, but did not 
continue to be postmaster after President Wilson was elected. Mr. Hamre 
is still engaged in operating this large establishment, and his trade shows 
a healthy increase with each year. He is also a director of the Security 
State Bank of Hibbing and the Hibbing State Bank at South Hibbing, is 
a stockholder in the Chisholm State Bank, the Buhl State Bank, the 
Mountain Iron State Bank and the Keewatin State Bank. 

One June 23, 1917, Mr. Hamre was married to Geraldine Guthrie, of 
Blooming Prairie, and they have one daughter, Mary Helene. Mr. 
Hamre is a Republican, but not very active in politics. He is a thirty- 
second degree and Shriner Mason. He also belongs to the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks and the Algonquin Club of Hibbing. Mr. 
Hamre had one idea in view during the many years he worked for others 
and that was to secure a business of his own. With that object in view 
he worked and saved. His beginning was a modest one, and good man- 
agement was required at first to keep things going, but it was not long 
before the way was clear, and after that he had no trouble in expanding. 
It is his firm belief that if a man is willing to work and save almost any- 
thing is possible, especially in this glorious Mesaba Range country. To 



1086 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

him it is the finest location in the world and he is vitally interested in its 
further development, and has the utmost faith in an expansion of all 
interests upon a much larger scale than has heretofore been made. 

Alfred Merritt. (Autobiography. Duluth, Minnesota, January 1, 
1917.) My father came to the Head of the Lakes on the sidewheel steamer 
North Star on the 3rd day of July, 1855, this being her first trip through 
the locks at Sault Ste. Marie. She came through what is now known as 
the Superior Entry, between Minnesota Point and Boland's Point, the lat- 
ter now being called Wisconsin Point. He came to erect a saw mill to be 
built on Conner's Point for Newell S. Ryder. 

The Indian Treaty had been made in the fall of 1854 at La Point, 
ceding practically all of the northeastern part of Minnesota to the Govern- 
ment. My father took a squatter right on. a piece of land, which after 
the survey was made proved to be a part of what is now West Duluth. 
The survey was made during the winter of 1856. After making the 
squatter claim he had to have his family come up the lake to hold the land. 
Mother was living at Austinburg, Ashtabula County, Ohio, at which place 
there was an Institute where my four older brothers had attended school. 
Mother packed the household goods and shipped them to Superior, 
Wisconsin, care of the Hanna, Garrison Company, by way of Cleveland, 
Ohio. She took us five younger boys and started for the Head of Lake 
Superior. Brother Lucien, one of the three older brothers, started before 
us to drive our old black cow to Cleveland so that we could take her up 
on the boat with us. 

When we got to Cleveland we found that we had missed the boat, and 
we then had to wait eight days for the Propeller Manhattan. Capt. 
Lyman Spaulding was master, the first mate, I do not remember his name, 
and the second mate they called Big Mouth Charley. My brother Lucien 
walked back to Austinburg to school before we left on the boat. 

We five boys kept mother pretty busy, I guess, looking after us. 
Leondias and I being the oldest, walked over the whole city of Cleveland 
and Ohft) City, the latter being really a part of Cleveland, but separated 
in 1856. I well remember Perry's monument and the parks. The (city 
was small then. 

It must have been about the 18th of October that we took the boat for 
that far off land, away up in Minnesota. I remember mother's friends 
saying to her, "What are you going away up to Lake Superior for? 
Why you will freeze to death up there." We had a fine trip all the way 
through Lake Erie, through the St. Clair river, past Detroit, and on 
through Lake Huron. Well do I remember how beautiful it was all the 
way up the St. Mary's river. I recall that we took on a lot of wood at 
Rosebury Island, and then more at Whiskey Bay. above the canal. The 
Indians were camped all along the St. Mary's river, and at the falls they 
were spearing whitefish, which for us was a wonderful sight. After we 
left Whitefish Point we boys wanted to see a storm. In about four hours 
we had all that we wanted, but the storm did not stop, and all of us were 
very sick, with the exception of mother. I recall that we made port at 
Grand Island, Marquette. Copper Harbor, Eagle Harbor, Ontonagon and 
La Point. Bayfield and Ashland were not in existence at that time. 

We passed through the Old Superior Entry into Superior Bay about 
2 o'clock P. M. on the 28th day of October, 1856. I wish that you could 
have seen how beautiful the Head of the Lakes looked at that time. It 
was practically in a state of nature. The Indians were there with their 
wigwams scattered up and down Minnesota and Wisconsin Points, with 
the smoke curling from the top of the wigwams, and their canoes skim- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1087 

ming along the waters of the bay or hauled upon the shore. Fish and game 
were in abundance. Tall pines and hard wood trees were growing on the 
hill sides and down to the water's edge, and with the leaves of the hard- 
wood trees turned as they were in the fall, what a beautiful sight it was. 
I have many times wished that I had a picture as it looked then, or a gift 
of language to describe the beauty of the Head of the Lakes as I saw it 
as a boy nine years old. 

My brother Napoleon was at George R. Stuntz's dock at the end of 
Minnesota Point, and when we passed the dock he jumped in the old 
Mackinaw boat and rowed over to Old Quebec Pier at Superior. The 
steamer had to go up the bay nearly two miles before she could turn to 
come to the dock, that being the channel at that time, so my brother beat 
us to the dock. On landing we met father and Mr. Edwin F. Ely and the 
Rev. James Peet, and you can well imagine how glad we were to see 
father and my brother Napoleon. Mother and my three youngest brothers 
stayed that night at Mr. Peet's house and also Mr. Ely's house. They 
lived at that time at what was called Middle Town at Superior. We all 
got in the Mackinaw boat and rowed up to Mr. Ely's house and all landed 
there except a man by the name of McCoy, and my brothers. Napoleon 
and Leondias, and myself. We rowed on up to old Oneota, and I recall 
my legs were too short to reach the bottom of the boat. We landed on the 
shore between what is now Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth avenues. West, 
at the foot of the old saw mill log slide. I now own that particular 
ground. 

On landing there the first man that I remember of seeing was Edwin 
H. Hall, the next were John G. Rakowsky and Andrew Reefer. Mr. 
Hall was dressed in a red shirt with a white bosom, a red sash, broad 
cloth pants and fine boots. He was a regular frontier dandy. 

The house in which we lived was built on Block 29, Oneota. There 
was just a small clearing of perhaps one-half acre, and all the rest was 
covered with pine trees clear up and down the bay. There was only one 
place on the side hill where one could climb up to see over the trees and 
look into Wisconsin and up and down the river, and out over the four 
points, Rices, Conners, Minnesota and Wisconsin, into Lake Superior. 
Even at what is now known as the Point of Rocks one could not see out. 
Mr. Ely had cut a trail through the pine woods to a rock bluff that was 
called the Mountain Sight, where you could look right down Forty-sixth 
avenue. West. From this bluff one had a fine view of the whole countrv 
at the Head of the Lake. The view from there looking over the tops of 
the trees from this place at that time could never be forgotten. It is 
fixed in my memory and often I close my eyes and let the old scenes pass 
once more. The autumns especially were beautiful, with the turning of 
the leaves over on the South Range, which was covered with hardwoods 
and evergreens trees, no axe having marred nature at that time, there 
being hardly a tree cut from Minnesota Point to Fond-du-Lac. 

As a boy I knew every man and woman on this side of the State Line. 
In Minnesota along the bay front, at the end of Minnesota Point, besides 
the lighthouse there were eleven houses and sheds in addition to Stuntz's 
Dock and Warehouse. R. H. Barrett was in charge of the lighthouse, 
and I remember that a man by the name of Fargo lived in one of the 
houses. Then as you went to the base of the point there was not a house 
until you got nearly to where the canal now is. There were fifteen build- 
ings, mostly small dwelling houses, and one old up and down saw mill 
which had been run a little and which had been built by George Nettleton. 
On the main shore at the foot of Minnesota Point, east and west, but 
almost to the east of the Point, there were twelve houses, including Sidney 



1088 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Luce's house and dock. As you went west there was one claim shanty 
owned by F. A. Buckingham on the west side of the creek by the same 
name. East of Chester creek there were only two houses, both of them 
claim shanties. At Tischer's, now Congdon's, there was one house. There 
was no road up or down the North shore of Lake Superior or St. Louis 
Bay or the river to Fond-du-Lac, nothing but Indian trails. 

As you came west, at the foot of Rice's Point, on the rock west of 
Garfield avenue where the firehall stands, was the Ellis House. On the 
foot of the point was North Albert Posey's house. A short way from the 
end of the point just north of the Northern Pacific bridge was a two-story 
log house built by Sueiss Rice, after whom the point was named. He was 
a brother of Senator Rice of Minnesota. 

When you left Rice's Point to the west there was one house at Coffey's 
creek, owned by L. B. Coffey, a brother of General Coffey, the Confed- 
erate. There was on the west side, up the stream, another claim shanty 
owned by R. P. Miller. To the north of Coffey's place John Rakowsky had 
a claim. A man by the name of Burk had a claim shanty just west of 
Miller's creek. There the rocks came out to the bay and made a lee on 
either side of this point of rocks, so that when the wind was from the 
northeast or southwest you could lay with your small boat or canoe in 
perfect safety. I am sure that this is the landmark chosen by Chief 
Buffalo at the Indian Treaty at La Point in the fall of 1854 as the starting 
point, the line to run one mile north, one mile east, one mile south, and 
one mile west back to the point of starting. This would have taken in 
the old burial ground at the foot of Rice's Point. They had this large 
burial ground there, as the Indians are more particular than the white 
people about these things. The Treaty was tampered with, unquestion- 
ably, by interested parties. In fact when this land was looked up, accord- 
ing to the Treaty papers, it was found to be located six miles out in Lake 
Superior. This, however, was rectified to some extent, and when Chief 
Buffalo died, his son-in-law, Ben Armstrong, fell heir to Chief Buffalo's 
interest, and he sold this in trust to W. L. Spalding, then of Ontonagon, 
Michigan, later of Duluth. and the Spalding House stands on some of 
this land now. 

The next claim shanty was built by Patrick Conner, an old Hudson 
Bay Company employee, and it was built at a place just east of the Mesaba 
Ore Dock. We called it Conner's Slough. This man, Patrick Conner, 
came out to Hudson's Bav from the North of Ireland and entered the 
employment of the fur company when he was nineteen years old, as a 
clerk. I remember his telling my brother Leondias and myself in 1856 
that he wintered on Rice's Point fifty-four years before that time. He 
was a well posted man. His wife was a Chippewa squaw and they had a 
family of two boys and one girl. One of his boys was named Patrick, 
the other Peter, and the daughter was named Elizabeth. 

The next house belonged to Fred Lemargie, and was located west of 
where the ore docks are now, at about Thirty-eighth avenue, west and 
south of the Northern Pacific tracks. This piece of land was held by 
Michael S. Bright's father as a trading post. 

We now come to the old townsite of Oneota, which was taken as a 
townsite under the old townsite law. This land was located right after 
the treaty of La Point, in the fall of 1854. Ryan H. Bacon had a squat- 
ter's right and McCracken another squatter's right to the west of Bacon's. 
Edmund F. Ely bought their rights and with some St. Paul men and 
eastern men, also, started the town. Mr. H. W. Wheeler was one of 
them. There were only twenty-four houses there in 1860. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1089 

The first public school on the north shore of Lake Superior was held 
in the winter of 1856. The teacher was paid by the parents in proportion 
to the number of pupils sent. I was one of the scholars, and four of us 
boys went to the first school, five of Mr. Ely's, two of Mr. Wheeler's and 
also Christian Hoffenbacker, now of Eagle Harbor. Michigan. Only 
five are now alive in 1915. My brother Jerome was our teacher, and he 
was a very able teacher, as many of his pupils all over the States will 
testify. 

As I have already stated, the number of houses on the old Oneota 
townsite was twenty-four, this including buildings of all kinds, the houses 
were almost all on Oneota street and between Thirty-ninth avenue, West, 
and Forty-seventh avenue, West. The old saw mill stood on the bay front 
between Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth avenue, West. During the year 
1857 there was built at Forty-second avenue, W'est. a frame school house, 
and this was the first frame building built in northwestern Minnesota for 
a school house. At Fond-du-Lac, now western Duluth, there was a mis- 
sion school held for a while, but this was the first District school between 
Sunrise, Minnesota, and Grand Portage on the north shore of Lake 
Superior. 

After you left Oneota going west you came to Hayes' clearing and 
then to Freeman Keene's clearing on Keene's creek. The next was 
Milford, where there was a saw mill and four houses. The next was 
Crosier's point, owned by Aron Crosuer and wife. Kingbury lived next, 
on land which is now a part of Fairmount Park. He built a saw 
mill on his land, but while the mill was fully completed it was never run. 
Next came Nolton's place, then Marshall's place, and adjoining this was 
Permonkey's place. The place now called Swenson's place at Spirit Lake 
was originally taken by John Little-john. Peter Carroll had a place at 
the entrance of Spirit Lake. A man by the name of John Langley had a 
claim west of Carroll. Tommy Hayes owned what we called Sebasta- 
pool, which is right where the Spirit Lake branch of the Boat Club and 
Morgan Park are now. Peter Gerno owned what is now the John Smith 
place, now a part of New Duluth and the steel plant. John La Gard 
lived just in front of John Smith's old place on an island. 

The next place was Sargent's house, on what we called Sargent Lake, 
just west of Sargent's creek. Andrew Reefer had a claim to the east of 
Fond-du-Lac, about one mile. 

At Fond-du-Lac there were fourteen buildings all told. A warehouse 
stood near the river which was built by John Jacob Astor of the North- 
west Fur Company. It was in good shape in 1856, and Captain Peterson 
used it for a barn for many years. 

There lived at that time at Fond-du-Lac, R. B. Carlton and wife and 
one son, Webb Carlton. Carlton County and also Carlton Park on the 
north shore of Lake Superior were named after R. B. Carlton. He was 
called Colonel Carlton. Mr. Rausau and family, George Wheeler's family 
and Mr. Peterson and family were there then. This place was the head of 
navigation, and the traders going north and west took the Old Portage 
trail for Knife Falls, a nine-mile portage and a long one, I can assure you 
of that, for I have traveled it with a one hundred and twenty pound pack. 

In the foregoing I have only named the residences of those who lived 
on the bay front or river front. All told, including Minnesota Point, and 
on the north shore from Lester river to Fond-du-Lac, there was a total of 
101 buildings. My authority for this is the coast survey map made by 
George R. Meade in 1860 and 1861. 

The claims taken back of the water front were practically all aban- 
doned in 1857 and 1858. These years were very hard for every settler, 



1090 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

and as many as could got out and left for the east. I want to speak of 
the general honesty of the pioneers of this northwest by telling you what 
Captain Ben Sweet of the Steamer North Star said of them when times 
were so hard and no one had any money. The Captain took down over 
seven hundred passengers and took their notes in payment of their trans- 
portation. Of these all paid their notes with one exception, and the Cap- 
tain said this one man had the money in his pocket when he came aboard, 
but said he did not have any. When one considers that these seven hun- 
dred people scattered all over the New England States, and then in every 
case with that one exception paid their notes, it is a remarkable testi- 
monial to the rugged honesty of the early pioneers. 

In those early days we were all neighbors, from Bezve Bay down the 
north shore to Fond-du-Lac, and over into Superior, Wisconsin. One 
cannot write about just one side of the State line, for in sickness and in 
joy there was no State line. Many times were father and mother called 
upon to help in times of sickness and suffering. In times of sickness she 
was called upon, for all recognized in her a natural born nurse. However, 
she never attended a case without a doctor, if one was to be had. Of all 
people I have nothing but the kindliest recollections. 

All the old pioneers who came to the Head of the Lakes as men and 
women grown, were a splendid type of manhood and womanhood. We 
shall never see their like again, but few are now alive. Among them are 
Mrs. R. G. Coburn, R. N. McLean, Col. Hiram Hayes of Superior, and 
N. B. Merritt of Duluth, the only ones who were over twenty-one in 
1856 who are now alive. As I am writing this I have just heard of the 
death of Ted Wakelin. He passed away last Monday. So they go, one 
by one, over the Great Divide. 

Up to the time of the Civil War there was little excitement to disturb 
the monotony of the struggle for existence. Lumbering in the winter, 
working in the saw mill in the summer, and farming, fishing and sailing, 
were the occupations by which we made a livelihood. Quite a number of 
the young men went into the army. Among the number were Dorus 
Martin, Rufus Jefferson. F. A. Buckingham, Freeman Keene, Leondias 
Merritt, U. S. Bailey, Andrew Reefer, John Rakowsky, Samuel McQuade. 
George Shurbrooke, Gal Shurbrooke, John Falk, Julius Gorgon, Col. J. B. 
Culver and Robert Emmit Jefferson. John Falk was killed in the Battle 
of the Wilderness and George Shurbrooke was killed at Vicksburg. 

Robert Emmit Jefferson built the first frame hotel at the Head of the 
Lake. It is now standing on Lake avenue, on the north side of the canal, 
and is at present called the Foster House. 

It was an anxious time during the war. In the fall of 1862 the Indian 
outbreak took place, and for a time we were afraid the Chippewas, who 
were the Indians at the Head of the Lakes, would join the Sioux, but 
fortunately for us they refused to join. 

In the winter of 1865 and 1866 there was gold excitement at Ver- 
milion Lake. A road was cut out to the supposed gold fields, and a great 
number of men and teams went over the road. My father, Lewis H. 
Merritt, made the trip, and while going out eighty teams passed in one 
day on their way in. Father was not boomed on the gold fields, but while 
he was out there, North Albert Posey, who was the Indian blacksmith, 
showed father a chunk of iron ore, and father told us boys that some dav 
there would be great mines there, worth more than all the gold of Cali- 
fornia. These words perhaps influenced us in later years to discover 
the Mesaba Range. 

I remember one trip I made with Fred Lamagrie during the winter 
of 1866 and 1867. We had horse trains and hauled stuff for the Indian 
traders. Our load was for Peter Bradshaw & Co. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1091 

During the winter of 1867 and 1868 the survey of the Lake Superior 
and Mississippi was being made from Carlton to Duluth. The line came 
along the Dalles to Fond-du-Lac, and then along the present line to 
Duluth. Leondias Merritt and myself were chainmen on this survey, a 
man by the name of McKensy was engineer and Matt Haug, Dan Watter- 
man and John Bertrand were axemen. One of Mr. Bertrand's sons was 
picket man. The snow was very deep and we were camped out for about 
two months. The road was finished in the summer of 1870. This was 
the first railroad to the Head of the Lakes. 

The winter of 1867 and 1868 there was quite a lot of lumbering done 
getting ready for the railroad. People commenced to flock to the Head of 
the Lakes, and during that summer my brother and myself had a sail scow 
on the bay and carried lumber to Duluth, and railroad supplies up the 
bay for contractors. 

The winter of 1869 and 1870 we built along with Henry S. Ely the 
first sailing vessel built at the Head of the Lakes. She measured 49 gross 
tons, and was schooner rigged. We sailed her that summer and lost her 
the next season at Ontonagon, Michigan, on the 27th of August, 1871. 
I often think of the help that Mr. Willard of Ontonagon gave me in trying 
to save the schooner, and when she proved a total loss he told me not to 
give up but do something and not let the loss discourage me. He said 
to me, "I have lost all two different times, and am now up the third time." 
His advice gave me courage, and the next winter we got a logging contract 
and made enough to pay our debts. 

I have forgotten to say that the first tug at the Head of the Lakes was 
the tug Agate. She was here the summer of 1868. I was pilot, and Capt. 
Martin Wheeler was engineer. We towed scows across to the Govern- 
ment piers at the Superior Entry, carrying stone. The piers were just 
being commenced then. In the fall we took her back to Ontonagon, as she 
belong to Willard and Merser. 

We did anything to make a living during 1872 and 1873. During the 
summer of 1873 I built a road on Isle Royale from Siskiwit Bay to the 
Island Mine, a distance of three and one-half miles. I took men from 
Duluth on the Steamer Metropolis, of which Capt. Bart Atkins was pilot. 
We left there in the fall in a small boat with ten others just before Thanks- 
giving and rowed to Duluth. Among the party were Thomas Sandilands. 
Andrus R. Merritt, George Hill, and a Mr. Peterson. We had a very 
hard trip up the lake, and it is a hard trip in an open boat in the winter 
time. 

In 1874 five of us went back to Isle Royale in the small boat. We 
finished up the road this time and then went to work for the North Amer- 
ican Exploration Company, of which Capt. Samuel Hill was the agent. 
We were cutting trails and digging pits on different parts of the Island. 
The failure of Jay Cooke & Co. and the panic that followed made very 
hard times and every one had to struggle to live. I cut wood and deliv- 
ered it on Stone's Dock at Duluth for $2.00 per cord. We also cut cedar 
poles and ties or anything else. Many of the people moved away from 
Duluth because of the hard times. 

We built another boat, a scow schooner, of only 29 tons burden. We 
traded down the north shore, and went as far the Copper Country of 
Michigan. Times were very hard. We worked in the woods in the win- 
ter cutting cord wood and logs. During the summer of 1878 Thomas 
Sandilands and myself bought the tug John Martin. We kept her three 
years and then sold her to Tim Daugherty. We then took to exploring 
in the summer and logging in the winter. 

Vol. Ill— 11 



1092 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

M. B. Harrison and W. K. Rogers ran a survey for a railroad line 
from Duluth to Winnipeg, Manitoba. The line was located to the Lake 
of the Woods. My brother Cassius was head explorer. Mr. Banks was 
head engineer, and C. H. Martz and his brother were on the engineering 
corps. My brother ran the exploring line from the mouth of Sturgeon 
River around the south side of the lake, and then on to Winnipeg. In 
locating this line through Township 53. North of Range 18 West, in 
Section 5. just on the height of land, on the divide of the waters, my 
brother saw a boulder of iron ore and brought in a piece to Duluth. This 
was the first chunk of pure ore taken off the Mesaba Range. This was in 
the year of 1887. Explorations were not started on the Mesaba Range for 
some time after. 

The State of Minnesota held in trust for the schools a lot of land 
which we believed to be mineral land. Having worked for the State as 
explorers estimating timber, we were well acquainted with State Auditor 
Braden, and my brother Leondias and myself told him what we believed 
to be true about the value of some of these lands to the school children of 
Minnesota. Auditor Braden thereupon had a bill prepared and the Legis- 
lature passed it. preserving these lands to the school fund. Auditor Braden 
appointed a committee of three to say what price should be paid as a 
royalty on ore on lands leased by the State. This committee consisted of 
Leondias Merritt. George C. Stone and myself. There was great pressure 
brought to bear to place a royalty of ten cents per ton. They wanted 
it placed at fifteen cents, then at twenty. However, we decided unani- 
mously that we would recommend twenty-five cents per gross ton, at which 
price it now stands. I believe that Auditor Braden was perfectly honest 
in his efforts to protect the school lands of the State of Minnesota, and 
also the other state auditors up to this time. What a splendid fund this 
will be for all time to the school children of this Great State. It has 
always given me great satisfaction to think that I had a humble part in 
preserving to them this fund. 

The year 1889 the first work was done on what is now the Mountain 
Iron Mine. I took a crew of six men in by the way of Tower on March 
17th. Started from Tower with three dog trains, and we were the dogs. 
We went in by the way of Pike River and then to Rice Lake, then to 
Mountain Iron. 

We dug test_pits and finally drilled. All was done on S^ of S^ 
of Section 34. Township 59, north of Range 18 west. We found that we 
were too far north for ore, and on going south found the ore on Section 4, 
directly south of our first work, the summer of 1890. 

Xo one who has not actually gone through the hardships and the dis- 
couragements of keeping a camp going out so far from the base of sup- 
plies can realize what one has to contend with. The raising of the money 
alone was no small job. and worst of all the task of endeavoring to keep 
up the courage of one's partners. 

After the ore was found we had to look for transportation, we went 
to the Northern Pacific Railroad and also to the St. Paul and Duluth 
Railroad, they being separate at that time. Neither would do anything. 
their officials did not realize the value of the Mesaba Range and of the 
great traffic which was to originate from the many mines. We hardly 
knew what to do. We were almost discouraged, finally we got hold of 
the Duluth & Winnipeg Railroad, and they said if we would build down 
to Stony Brook they would make a traffic contract with us. We scratched 
around and built a line from Mountain Iron to Stony Brook, a distance 
of forty-five miles, with a branch off our line from the station called Iron 
Junction to Biwabik. a distance of sixteen miles. This line was com- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1093 

pleted in 1892. The year of 1893 we built into Duluth, because the Duluth 
& Winnipeg Railroad did not furnish the number of ore cars they had 
agreed to when we made the traffic contract with them. Our road, the 
Duluth, Missabe & Northern, built in the winter of 1891 and 1892 a total 
of 750 cars. The next year we built 750 more ore cars. The Duluth 
and Winnipeg railroad did not build any. St. Louis County offered us 
$250,000 worth of bonds if we would build into Duluth. We accepted 
this offer and built into Duluth, and also built into Hibbing from our 
main line from Wolf Station. After the line was finished to Duluth and 
the ore docks completed, I, as president of the road, went and got the 
bonds from the county. I made at that time a verbal agreement with the 
County Commissioners and the County Auditor that if the county would 
let the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad have the county bonds with- 
out giving up an equal amount of stock in the railroad, that the railroad 
would pay her taxes to the county the same as an individual. This would 
have paid back to the county the amount of the bonds and interest in less 
than twenty years. On the 4th of February, 1894, I had passed by the 
Board of Directors and stockholders of the Duluth, Missabe & Northern 
Railroad a resolution, ratifying and confirming all of my contracts, both 
written and oral, the intent of this was to cover this oral contract I had 
made with the County Commissioners of St. Louis County at the time 
the bonds were delivered to us, and also other oral contracts which I had 
made in my capacity as president of the road. 

Our loyalty to Duluth was the main reason for our building into 
Duluth. It proved to be a poor move for us, because in order to get 
the money we got mixed up with John D. Rockefeller and his gang, and 
in the end we lost all our interest in the road and mines. I, myself, 
owned one-tenth of the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad besides 
120 one thousand dollar bonds of the railroad, and also all my interest 
in the mines. It was all stolen. My interest in the Lake Superior Con- 
solidated Iron Mines Company, which controlled the railroad and the 
different mining companies, was turned into the steel company when it 
was formed at $7,500,000. The dividends on my share of the railroad 
stock alone has been over $800,000 several different years. The courts 
said that it was a fraud, I say it was a plain steal. 

Naturally one will ask how did he do it. It was simply a case of our 
having confidence in him. We were working away for the interests of 
the company, getting traffic contracts, fully trusting him, we woke up too 
late. 

The loss of my interest in this great enterprise was not what stunned 
me, however, it was the loss of my brother Cassius Clay Merritt, worse 
than murdered in cold blood. He was treasurer of the Duluth, Missabe 
& Northern Railroad during the years of 1893, and the trouble and 
worry and disappointments due to the delays in getting money from the 
east that had been promised us by them broke his heart, and he died 
early in the spring of 1894, loved and respected by everyone at the Head 
of the Lakes, as well as over the entire state, where we were well known, 
I often think that the Mesaba was not worth the price. 

After reading over what I have written a few things run through my 
mind which would show great changes as to the ease of getting around. 
In the fall of 1862 my father moved Mr. Edmund F. Ely's family from 
Oneota, now a part of Duluth, to St. Paul. He was gone four weeks 
on the round trip. In the summer of 1863 I drove a yoke of oxen from 
Superior, Wisconsin, to St. Paul. Mr. E. G. Swanstrom drove another 
yoke of oxen with me. We moved a family over from Oneota by the 
name of Gronowold. It took us thirty days for the round trip. From 



1094 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

what is now 45th avenue west there was no road at all. We drove the 
oxen without their yoke singly, over a trail down to Rice's Point. It 
was then covered with Norway pine and white birch, and blueberry bushes 
were in abundance. At the end of the point we drove them into the water, 
and swam them in the water over to Conner's Point. We then had to 
walk them down the beach two miles before we could get a road. The 
household goods of the Gronowold family were taken over in an open 
scow. 

On the end of Conner's Point there was a mound perfectly round, 
fully forty feet high, at least high enough so that from the top you would 
look over the tops of the trees. To the south it was covered with small 
Norway pine and hazel brush, I always thought that it was an Indian 
mound, as it was so perfect. It was standing in good shape in 1865. 
After that the wind and waves washed it away. In summer and in 
winter the sands of which it was made blew off on the ice until it was 
all gone. There were two islands in the Duluth, Superior Bay about 
half way between the end of Rice's Point and the canal. They were 
marshy islands, and quite a number of tamarack trees were growing on 
them. After the canal was built the swells from the lake loosened them 
and they finally floated out into the lake. About half way from the end 
of Conner's Point to Quebec Pier was Vincent Roy's place, this was the 
old site of the trading post spoken of by General Cass in his first visit to 
Fond du Lac in 1820. The old stockade could be traced in 1856. On 
his visit he told about seeing the Bungo family. The father of the 
Rungo's was a West Indian slave, a full-blooded negro, brought out and 
owned by a Hudson Bay Company officer, and his wife was a Chippewa 
squaw. There was a large family of children. Stephen Bungo, one of 
the boys, was born in what is now Superior, about 1798. He often used 
to tell me that he and Mr. George Morrison were the two first white 
children born in Superior. Mr. George Morrison was a half breed. 
Bungo used to come up and visit my brother and myself, and he always 
came twice a year, staying four or five days each time. On one of his 
trips he seemed quite excited. He said that they had called Bungo a liar, 
because he had said that he had seen Robert Fulton's steamboat at 
Albany on the Hudson River in about the year 1815. He had seen that 
we had an encyclopedia. Now, he said, I want you to look it up. and 
give me the page, and I will show those gentlemen that Bungo is not a 
liar. A story is told about him living at the mouth of the Brule. Some 
Superior fellows came down on a fishing trip and while camping there 
some of the party stole all of Bungo's chickens. Bungo, who was noted 
for his politeness, went to their camp and said, "Excuse me, gentle- 
men. Chippeway is my language, but some of you gentlemen have stolen 
all my chickens." It is needless to say Bungo was well paid for his 
chickens. Bungo was a great hunter". He once told me about his exploits 
and went on to say how he had killed more bear than anybody else, but, 
said he, "Bungo's dog died and Bungo did not kill any more bear." He 
was over ninety years old when he died. He is buried over in old Super- 
ior, on the Left Hand River, near the same place where he was born 
nearly one hundred years before. 

I will close these reminiscences of the times 1856 to 1894, and leave 
to some abler person and younger to take up the thread and carry it 
down to the present year, 1915. 

On February 13, 1886, there was organized a society called the Old 
Settlers Association of the Head of Lake Superior. I believe that this 
society has done more to unite the citizens of both sides of the" bay than 
anything else besides. Almost all of the charter members have passed 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1095 

over the Great Divide, but few remain. Twenty-five years' residence 
entitles one to a membership, so the ranks are kept full and on the 
increase. It is for these, the later recruits, that I am writing. I beg of 
you not to do anything that would bring disgrace on the Old Settlers 
Association of the Head of the Lake Superior, or to cause a split of the 
members on either side of the bay. 

I shall never forget the first time that we met at Old Superior. 
George R. Stuntz was our first president. As we marched up old Quebec 
Pier Mr. Bishop, the old baker, led the procession. We all gathered at 
the Old Superior House,' where we had a great visit and a splendid ban- 
quet. We have had many meetings since that time, and the same good 
cheer and fellowship prevails. 

During the last few years I have tried many times to get someone 
of the old settlers to write an article covering the early days at the Head 
of the Lakes. In compliance with this request my good friend Mr. R. B. 
McLean of Superior wrote a paper covering his early experiences and 
reminiscences of the Superior side of the bay and of the north shore of 
Lake Superior from Minnesota Point down. In order that the Duluth 
side of the bay from Minnesota Point up might have something said 
concerning it, and not being able to get anyone else to do it, I finally 
concluded to write the enclosed papers. I have tried to set forth the 
conditions that existed from the time our family arrived in 1856 until 
the year 1894. The period from 1894 until the present time I leave for 
someone else to record. 

I have also taken the occasion to set forth the facts relating to the 
$250,000 bond issue which was granted by St. Louis County to the 
Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad, at the time we were extending 
the road into Duluth. 1 was president of the railroad at that time, and 
in this capacity conducted the negotiations between the railroad and the 
county regarding these bonds. 

If this younger generation will continue the work of building up a 
city at the Head of the Lakes with the same faith in its future as has 
been shown by the early pioneers, I doubt not but that a great city will 
be the result. Yours sincerely, 

Alfred Merritt. 

Willard Bayliss. It may be said that biography is history of the 
purest type, and to possess a history is what distinguishes man from the 
lower creatures about him. From age to age they possess the same 
appearance, unchanging in their instincts and habits, except in so far as 
they have been modified by contact with man, and therefore the history 
of one generation of irrational animals is the history of every other. 
But in the human race there is progressive change which it is the part 
of history to both record and accelerate and the duty of the living to 
perpetuate in biographical form for the coming generation. In connec- 
tion with the development of the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota 
it is an interesting part of the history of these times to make mention 
of the men who have been connected with this mighty work, and one of 
them deserving of more than passing notice is Willard Bayliss, superin- 
tendent of the eastern half of the Chisholm District, embracing the 
Hartley-Burt-Palmer, Chester, Duncan and Fraser mines of the Oliver 
Mining Company, for he has stamped his impress upon the iron industry 
and his community in no ordinary manner. 

Willard Bayliss was born at Massillon, Ohio, January 9, 1873, a son 
of Edwin and Cordelia Emeline (Zerbe) Bayliss, both natives of Ohio, 
where Edwin Bayliss was engaged in the manufacture of farming machin- 



1096 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

ery at Massillon, and at one time was a partner of J. F. Seiberling. In 
later years, after the death of Mrs. Bayliss, his children being then 
grown, Mr. Bayliss went to Bessemer on the Gogebic Range in Michigan, 
and was there engaged in a lumbering, insurance and real estate business 
and was equally successful in it. During the war between the North and 
the South he ser.ved in the Union army, having raised a company for the 
service, of which he was elected captain, and his organization became a 
part of the One Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 
The death of this old veteran and successful business man occurred at 
Bessemer, Michigan, in 1908. 

The paternal grandfather of Willard Bayliss, James Bayliss, was born 
at Stratford-on-Avon, England, and when he was nine years old, about 
1812, he immigrated to the United States, and in the coming years pros- 
pered, becoming the owner of a tract of land in Stark County, Ohio. 
Subsequently he became a manufacturer of Massillon, Ohio. When gold 
was discovered in California in 1849 he was one of the first to go to the 
"Golden" state, making the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. After 
reaching California he found it more profitable to engage in merchandis- 
ing than to prospect for gold, and his old account books are still in the 
possession of the family and show that he accepted gold nuggets and dust 
in lieu of currency. A sister of James Bayliss was married to a man 
by the name of Royce, and their son, Josiah Royce, became noted as a 
professor of philosophy at Harvard University, and also wrote the history 
of California in the Commonwealth series. 

Willard Bayliss after his mother's death went to Cleveland, Ohio, to 
live with relatives of his mother, a sister accompanying him. There he 
attended school and was graduated from the high school course in 1891, 
following which he -became a student of Yale University, and was gradu- 
ated therefrom in 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He 
subsequently took a post-graduate course in the Case School of Applied 
Science, in which he also taught chemistry. Completing his course at the 
latter institution, Mr. Bayliss became assistant chemist for the Otis 
Steel Company at Cleveland, Ohio, but a few months later, in May, 1895, 
he came to the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota, and through the 
influence of W. J. Olcott his services were secured as chemist of the 
Mountain Iron Mine, he succeeding E. T. Grise. Owing to the depress- 
ing financial period of 1895 many of the mines were closed, or practically 
suspended operation, and Mr. Bayliss was sent to the Gogebic Range in 
Michigan as a chemist for a group of mines under the same management. 
Eventually he became chief engineer of the Gogebic Range Mines of the 
United Steel Corporation. In December, 1904, he was further advanced 
by being made superintendent of the Myers Mine at Chisholm for the 
Oliver Iron Mining Company, and later held the same position for the 
Glen, Clark, Pillsbury and Leonard Mines. From 1914 to 1918 he located 
at Eveleth as assistant general superintendent of the Adams District, but 
in the latter year was transferred to the Chisholm District to fill his pres- 
ent very responsible position. 

Mr. Bayliss is a very prominent man in civic matters and has served 
as a member of the Water, Light, Power and Building Commission of 
the village of Chisholm, and the Library Board. He belongs to the 
Kiwanis Club, and is a Mason and Elk. 

On October 18, 1902, Mr. Bayliss was united in marriage with 
Celeste Chamberlain, of Kaukauna, Wisconsin, and they became the 
parents of six children, namely : Willard Zerbe, who was born in 1904 ; 
Dudley Chamberlain, who was born in 1905 ; Celeste and Mary, twins, 
who were born in 1907; Edwin, who was born in 1909, and died in 1911 ; 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1097 

and Franklin Gorgas, who was born in 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Bayliss are 
members of the Episcopal Church. 

It would be difficult to find a man more experienced in iron production 
or more competent to discharge the heavy responsibilities of his position 
than Mr. Bayliss. Not only has he the technical training, but he has also 
the practical experience which comes from actual operation, and his judg- 
ment is recognized as almost infallible with regard to his profession. As 
a citizen he measures up to the highest standards of honorable American 
manhood, and although a man of many affairs, never shirks a civic obliga- 
tion, but gives to matters referred to him the same careful and conscien- 
tious attention which have marked his career from its inception. 

William F. Ulrich, chief chemist of the Chisholm District for the 
Oliver Iron Mining Company, is one of the very capable men of his 
profession and one who has earned and holds the full confidence of his 
superiors. He was born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1877, 
which also happened to be Easter morning. His father, William F. 
Ulrich, was a native of Germany, a graduate of the University of Berlin, 
a veteran soldier of the war with Austria and the Franco-Prussian war, 
and immigrated to the United States immediately following the close of 
the last-named conflict and located at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he 
founded the Bethlehem Preparatory School for Lehigh University, and 
of which he continued owner and principal. He was known as "Doctor" 
Ulrich, and held the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The death of this 
scholarly and eminent man occurred at Bethlehem in 1898. The wife of 
Doctor Ulrich was Mary Michael, and she came of English ancestry. 
Her death occurred in 1918, she surviving her husband some twenty 
years. 

William F. Ulrich was one of five children born to his parents, two 
of whom died in infancy. Until 1901 he resided at Bethlehem, where he 
was reared and educated, being graduated from Lehigh University in 
1899 with the degree of Bachelor of Science and Analytical Chemist. 
For eighteen months following his graduation he was chemist for the 
Bethlehem Steel Company, and then for six months held the same posi- 
tion with the New Jersey Zinc Company. In November, 1901, he went 
to Chicago and was chemist for the Western Electric Company for six 
months, when, in April, 1902, he became chemist for the Oliver Iron Min- 
ing Company at Duluth, Minnesota, remaining in that city until Janu- 
ary, 1903, when he was transferred to Hibbing. In 1905 he was again 
transferred, this time to Chisholm, where he has since remained as chief 
chemist for the Chisholm District of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, 
and is one of the most efficient and thoroughly trained men in his pro- 
fession. 

On July 15, 1912, Mr. Ulrich was united in marriage with Clara Bro- 
gan, of Ironwood, Michigan, and they have one daughter, Ruth May. 
Mr. Ulrich is independent in politics, and during 1915 served as a mem- 
ber of the council of Chisholm, but aside from that has not held public 
office. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian. Well known in Masonry, 
he has attained the thirty-second degree, A. A. S. R., and is also a 
Mystic Shriner. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Benevo- 
lent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Chamber of 
Commerce, the L. S. M. I. and the Engineers' Club of northern Minne- 
sota. Mr. Ulrich is not only a thoroughly practical man, having gained 
a vast knowledge of his work from actual operation, but he has the 
technical training as well, and in his responsible position is making a 
record in his profession that it will be difficult to equal and impossible to 



1098 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

excell. While he is very much occupied by professional responsibilities. 
he is never too busy to give the intelligent co-operation of the good 
citizen to municipal affairs, and is recognized as a very constructive factor 
in his community. 

Finnish Daily Publishing Company. Among the forces working 
for high ideals of American citizenship none exceed in beneficence the 
influence exerted by the Fourth Estate. In this connection a splendid 
work is being done by the Finnish Daily Publishing Company of Duluth, 
publishers of Paivalehti. known as the Finnish Daily, the oldest Finnish 
daily newspaper in the United States, which was established in 1898 and 
first found a reading public at Calumet, Michigan, coming to Duluth 
in 1912. 

Politically independent, with a circulation of 8,000 readers, and sub- 
scribers from coast to coast and in Canada and Finland, this publication 
is recognized as the leading Finnish newspaper in the United States and 
Canada. Its publishers, realizing that America is a country where every 
man is given an equal opportunity for success, and believing that the 
immigrant will find chances here that he could not even dream of in his 
native land, have assumed it as their responsibility to present the ideals of 
the country in cogent form and, while discharging the normal duties 
which lie within the province of a newspaper, to foster and develop also 
a loyal and patriotic spirit. It has stood behind the affairs of the United 
States Government and has given strong support to such men as the late 
Theodore Roosevelt and his followers. 

Through the influence of Paivalehti, Americanization work among the 
Finnish people is progressing rapidly, and many thousands of those of 
Finnish descent, residents of the United States, who cannot read the 
English language, have gained their preliminary knowledge fitting them 
for American citizenship through its columns. This publication is also 
recognized as a valuable instructor in economical questions, as it is its 
practice to give useful information to new settlers in farming communities 
and to men who take part in business life. 

During the war period Paivalehti took a very active part in protecting 
this country against the menacing pro-German and other un-American 
elements. Its editorial staff and numerous agents and correspondents 
throughout the country gave valuable assistance to the United States 
Government in many issues during the period of the World war, in sell- 
ing Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps and in aiding the Red Cross, 
as well as in urging men to enlist in the fighting forces of the country. 
Its columns were constantly open to issues concerning the welfare of the 
country and its government. 

The Finnish Daily Publishing Company maintains its plant and office 
at No. 31 East Michigan street, Duluth. The editor and publisher exerts 
a wide influence for good among his people in this country, and is held 
in high esteem and confidence by those who have had occasion to come 
into contact with him either in a business or social way. 

James J. Hayes. The history of Chisholm as one of the most impor- 
tant towns of the Iron Ranges involved no one personality more fre- 
quently and at more vital points than James J. Hayes, who came upon the 
ground the first year that Chisholm took form as a community and has 
remained through good times and bad, in favorable fortune and in mis- 
fortune, and in point of years of continuous residence is Chisholm's 
oldest citizen. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY .1099 

Mr. Hayes was born at Collingwood, Ontario, June 10, 1865, and his 
life has been one of work and effort from an early age. His father, 
James J. Hayes, Sr., was born in Ireland in 1834 and was brought to 
Canada by his parents. At the age of ten he was left an orphan with 
two brothers, and had to assume responsibilities far in advance of his 
years in providing for his own living. At this early age he found a 
berth on a Great Lakes fishing boat, and in subsequent years developed 
all the skill and knowledge of a fisherman. He finally secured the facili- 
ties and equipment and entered the fishing industry for himself. James 
J. Hayes, Sr., in 1863 married Bridget McGrath, a native of Ireland. 
They were married in Collingwood. The father died in 1875, at the age 
of thirty-four, and the widowed mother survived him nearly half a cen- 
tury, passing away in 1916. 

Oldest of four children is James J. Hayes, and two others are still 
living. He was only ten years old when his father died. Soon after he 
was born his parents moved to Port Arthur, Ontario, or Prince Arthur's 
1 .anding as it' was then known. He lived with his widowed mother, and 
she was able to provide him with the advantages of the common schools, 
though as early as possible he began assisting her in the fishing business 
left by his father. Then some years later Mr. Hayes entered the teaming 
and contracting business, owning one or two teams and having other 
facilities. These facilities were employed by him and he drove a team 
which turned the first sod for the initial steps in the construction of the 
Canadian Pacific Railroad, which began building the Transcontinental 
route westward from Port Arthur, Ontario. Along with this modest 
effort as a contractor he also continued the fishing industry during the 
season, and that work necessitated spending much of his time on the 
lakes. 

Mr. Hayes had only recently passed his twenty-first birthday when on 
July 6, 1886, he arrived in Duluth with the intention of making that city 
his home. He first made his acquaintance with the city some five or six 
years earlier, while on board some lake boats. The first work he did 
after coming to Duluth was delivering coal for the Lehigh Coal and Iron 
Company. After two years at that he engaged in the retail coal and 
wood business for himself with offices at 27 West Superior street. He 
built up a considerable business, and at times had as many as eleven 
teams working at delivering coal. In March, 1894, with John Lloyd as a 
partner, he left for the Rainy Lake country. They took with them the first 
steamboat ever upon those international waters, also equipment of teams, 
wagons and other facilities and started a general transportation service 
from the railroad at Tower to International Falls, combining both boat 
and stage coaches. The line ran from Tower to Vermilion Dam, a dis- 
tance of eighteen miles, then to Crane Lake, twenty-six miles further, 
then to Kettle Falls, thirty-two miles, and on to International Falls, forty- 
eight miles. At International Falls the service branched off to the gold 
mines on both sides of the boundary. With this pioneer transportation 
enterprise Mr. Hayes linked his fortunes and energies for about six years. 

In 1900 he returned to Duluth and for a time was a lake captain, first 
for the Independent Ferry line and later for the Stevens line. It was 
in 1901 that the first village corporation was established at Chisholm, and 
he was on the ground at the same time. Mr. Hayes built the first resi- 
dence in Chisholm and for a short time was in the restaurant business, 
later conducted a drug store and also again did contracting in teaming. 
In 1902 he began furnishing the mines around Hibbing and Chisholm 
with mining timber. Mr. Hayes lost all his buildings and other property 
in the big fire of September 5, 1908, but quickly returned and undertook 



1100 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

the rehabilitation of the village. In 1912 he platted the Hayes Addition, 
and soon afterward organized the Park Addition Land Company, and 
for the past eight years has been its president and is still active in the 
real estate business. For a number of years he also conducted the first 
sanitary dairy farm in this section. 

June 2, 1884, at Port Arthur, Ontario, Mr. Hayes married Miss 
Hannah Campbell, of Toronto. She died in 1891, and her only daughter, 
Gertrude, is now living at Detroit, Michigan. November 14, 1893, 
Mr. Hayes married Miss Margaret Shannon, of Duluth. The children 
born to their marriage are Arthur, Winifred, Wilbur and Marie. Marie 
died when only two months old. Both sons trained as soldiers during the 
World war. Arthur graduated with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
from Notre Dame University, and was a young man of brilliant qualifica- 
tions. While in the university he distinguished himself for his literary 
gifts and won a prize for his literary efforts. His genius bore fruit 
in literary productions that soon became recognized for their merit 
and were eagerly sought and published in magazines. The young author 
while just entering upon a career of great promise accepted the call to the 
colors and went into training as a soldier at Camp Grant, Illinois, where 
on April 16, 1918, at the age of twenty-three, he died of pneumonia. The 
other son, Wilbur, was a student in the Officers' Training School at 
Camp Pike, Arkansas, when the armistice was signed, and is now sales 
manager for the Minnesota Utilities Company at Chisholm. The daugh- 
ter Winifred is a graduate of Northwestern University at Evanston, Illi- 
nois, and is teaching music. 

The numerous associations of Mr. Hayes with the development of 
Chisholm can be noted only briefly. In 1903, in order to help the com- 
munity, he carried the mail from the Great Northern Railroad to Exmore, 
about a mile distant. He also started the move and was elected by the 
Commercial Club as chairman of a committee of four to induce the 
Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad to extend its line to Chisholm. and 
it was largely his personal exertions and persevering influence that 
brought success to this endeavor. Mr. Hayes has long been active in 
local affairs, served as justice of the peace from 1902 to 1906, for nine 
years was a member of the Water, Light and Building Board, was a 
street commissioner in early days and was appointed to similar office in 
1919, served one term as president of the Commercial Club, was president 
of the Farmers' Club five years, has been a director of the First National 
Bank, and is a member of the Kiwanis Club, Knights of Columbus at 
Hibbing, Modern Woodmen of America, and in politics is an independent 
Democrat. Mr. Hayes and his family are members of St. Joseph's 
Catholic Church. 

Charles B. Woodruff, president of the Woodruff Lumber Company 
and one of the veteran lumber operators in the Duluth district has been 
known to the trade as a manufacturer and dealer for over thirty-seven 
years. 

Mr. Woodruff was born in Detroit, Michigan, and in 1884 came to 
Duluth with the Barnhart Lumber Company and entered the lumber busi- 
ness, manufacturing lumber from the logs and selling their output of 
white pine to the trade in Minnesota, Dakota and the southwest for three 
years, when he succeeded the Barnhart Lumber Company by himself, 
under the firm name of C. B. Woodruff. With his own capital he con- 
ducted mill and yards and sold and shipped lumber to the trade in North 
Dakota and Minnesota. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1101 

Finally, in 1907, his business interests were incorporated under the 
title of the Woodruff Lumber Company, with himself as president and 
his nephew, Arthur W. King, as secretary and treasurer. This company 
is engaged in the manufacturing of interior finish, doors, sash, millwork 
of all kinds, along with the general lumber business, handling and selling 
all kinds of lumber, pine, hardwoods, California and Washington Coast 
fir lumber and timbers. The Woodruff Lumber Company employ about 
one hundred men, and has a model plant and factory extending from 
800 to 925 on Garfield avenue (Rice's Point) where their offices are 
located. They also have a large distributing warehouse and yard at 22nd 
avenue, East, and the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad tracks in east end of 
the city. 

F. P. Stevenson, manager of the Stevenson Motor Sales Company, 
has become a prominent figure in the automobile industry at Duluth, 
though he also gained a name in local business circles during his years 
of association with the laundry business. 

Mr. Stevenson was born in New Brunswick, Canada, April 29, 1876, 
and was eight years of age when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Steven- 
son, came to the United States and located at Duluth. His father was 
for many years employed by the Zenith Dredge Company and died in 
1917. Of the family of ten children F. B. Stevenson is the sixth in age 
and six of them are still living. 

He was educated in the public schools of Duluth and at the age of 
twelve began in a measure to support himself as water boy for the 
laborers engaged in building the city docks. Subsequently for two and 
and a half years he was clerk in a local grocery store, and then became 
driver of a laundry wagon. In 1912 he invested his capital in a laundry 
business of his own at 20th avenue, West, and continued it for five 
years. Since 1918 Mr. Stevenson has been in the automobile business 
as manager of the Stevenson Motor Sales Company, handling both new 
and secondhand automobiles, operating a large garage and repair shop 
at 302 East First street. The companv handles the Westcott and the 
Moore 30. 

Mr. Stevenson is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, the Modern Samaritans, the Modern Woodmen of America, the 
Scottish Clans, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
while politically his support is given to the Republican party. October 
16, 1907, he married Miss Miriam Gregory. Mrs. Stevenson was liber- 
ally educated and is a talented musician, and for several years was a 
teacher of piano. She is well known in musical and social circles of 
Duluth. They have three children : Virginia, born in July, 1908 ; Dale, 
born in August, 1910; and Grace, born in November, 1917. 

Harry H. Lemont has been a resident of Duluth since 1887, com- 
ing here with Matthew Bland Harrison, the most prominent real estate 
operator that Duluth has ever had, and remaining with the firm until 
about a year after the untimely death of Mr. Harrison at the Spalding 
Hotel on Leap Year Day, February 29, 1892. Mr. Lemont was at his 
bedside and was holding his hand when he died. Since then in addi- 
tion to his brokerage business Mr. Lemont has been court reporter and 
has acted as court commissioner in numerous important foreign cases 
where testimony was taken in Duluth, notably the Mclntyre "Flour 
Mills Syndicate" and the Commodore Mills divorce cases. He was 
assistant secretary of the Board of Public Works, private secretary to 
-Mayor Haven and has attended three sessions of the Minnesota Legis- 



1102 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Iature, acting as secretary of the Senate Judiciary Committee and special 
clerk of the Senate. In war times he was elected secretary of the Fed- 
eral Exemption Board, in charge of the offices in the Government build- 
ing, where all exemptions claimed from the draft were finally passed 
upon, and has been at different times in the offices of the county treas- 
urer and auditor. Mr. Lemont is a consistent Republican and has always 
taken a warm interest in politics, being actively engaged in many cam- 
paigns where he had the reputation of a very successful "Gum shoe" 
campaigner. He was also private secretary to Hon. Charles A. Towne 
at one time. As he was familiarly called, "Our Charley" was running 
against Hon. Page Morris for Congress, Mr. Towne being on the Free 
Silver ticket. Some prominent Democrats approached Mr. Towne, ask- 
ing him why he had Harry Lemont as his secretary when he (Lemont) 
was a rank Republican. Mr. Towne told them that his secretary was 
an expert stenographer, had a splendid education and suited him to a 
"T," and then paid Mr. Lemont the unique compliment "but, above all 
things, gentlemen, He Never Leaks," whereupon the delegation dis- 
persed. 

Mr. Lemont, or "Colonel," as he is generally called, received a gram- 
mar, high school and university education, and before coming to Duluth, 
had experience in the east in newspaper work and railroading. He 
was connected with the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Rail- 
way in Texas, and when that road was merged with the Southern Pacific 
System he was private secretary to the general passenger agent and 
then to the general manager of the road. Failing health and malaria 
necessitated his return to the north and he came to Minnesota. Mr. Le- 
mont was born September 10, 1863, and has had a wide and versatile 
experience. 

John Peterson, who has lived in Duluth and St. Louis County 
for nearly thirty years, has a career interesting as much for experience 
as for achievement. He was a homesteader in one of the rural dis- 
tricts of St. Louis County, and until quite recently had his home out 
in the country on a farm. He is a man of large business interests, 
and is particularly well known in insurance circles, his business head- 
quarters being on the eighth floor of the Alworth Building in Duluth. 

Mr. Peterson was born in Norway September 9, 1866. He practi- 
cally grew up at a cabinet maker's bench, and a trade and a common 
school education equipped him for the battles of life. Before coming to 
America he was a ship carpenter and sailed on salt water for four years, 
from 1882 to 1886. In the spring of 1888 he came to the United States 
alone, and his first location was in Kansas City, Kansas, where he was 
employed at the carpenter's trade for two years. Going thence to Fos- 
ter, Monroe County, Iowa, he worked in coal mines for a year. It was 
about the first of June, 1891, that Mr. Peterson arrived at Duluth, 
and his home and interests have been centered at that city ever since. 
Up to 1894 he worked as a carpenter on various jobs, and for the next 
five years, until 1899, was employed as a motorman by the, Duluth 
Street Railway Company. He then resumed work at his old trade in 
helping construct Elevator E extension, Peavey Elevator, Cutler and 
Gilbert Dock, Northern Pacific Freight House on Fifth avenue, fol- 
lowing which for three years he was with the White Line Transporta- 
tion Company. Mr. Peterson in 1902 filed on his homestead in the town 
of Cotton. He proved his title to his claim in 1909 and made his 
home there until 1917. Some of his experiences while there reflect in 
an interesting way the progress of modern improvement in St. Louis 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1103 

County. His homestead was in section 7, township 54. range 15. In 
1902, when he and his family went out to occupy this claim, it was a 
matter of ten hours' travel to cover a distance of fourteen miles to 
the nearest railroad station on account of swamps, creeks, rivers and 
other natural hindrances that had to be overcome. In 1903 it was pos- 
sible for the first time in winter to get through with a horse to the 
railroad station. Since then roads have been built so that that entire 
rural community Can be reached readily by automobile. Mr. Peterson 
helped give St. Louis County some of its good modern roads, serving 
two and a half years as superintendent of road work for the county. 

In 1909 the St. Louis County Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Com- 
pany was incorporated and organized by Charles P. Craig as president 
and E. G. Church as secretary. Mr. Peterson has been a director in 
that company since 1910 and its president since 1916. Since January, 
1920, he has devoted most of his time to the business of farmers' insur- 
ance, with offices in the Alworth Building. The officers of the St. Louis 
County Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company at the present time 
are John Peterson, president; A. M. Olmen, vice president; N. Nissen, 
secretary; and Thomas W. Walker, treasurer. More recently the offi- 
cers, directors and stockholders of this company have organized and 
incorporated the Farmers' Mutual Live Stock Insurance Company, offi- 
cered as follows : Charles Borg of Forbes, Minnesota, president ; E. J. 
Singleton of Woodland, vice president; H. G. Larson of Meadow- 
lands, secretary; Colin Thomson of Duluth, treasurer; and John 
Peterson, general manager. The company commenced business May 
28, 1920. It was organized to protect owners against loss by death 
of horses and cattle. The business is operated on a mutual basis, 
with very cheap rates and no profit is figured. No such protection had 
been available prior to the organization of this company, and the com- 
pany has the honor of having made the first application for a license 
under the state law passed in 1917 by the State Legislature. At the time 
of its incorporation the company had a little over fifty-three thousand 
dollars insured valuation, with $1,061.00 collected premium for one year 
deposited in trust at the American Exchange Bank. In the very brief 
time that has elapsed since then a very gratifying increase in business 
and insured valuation has been made. 

Mr. Peterson is a Republican, and while he has never sought public 
office he has performed his duties as a citizen in such a way as to con- 
stitute a source of good and influence for betterment. For twelve years 
he served as chairman of the Town Board of the town of Cotton, 
was instrumental in organizing School District No. 49 in St. Louis 
County, and was clerk of this school board for fourteen years until he 
moved to Duluth to take up his residence in 1914. He also organized 
a Cotton Farmers Club in 1914. Mr. Peterson has been affiliated with 
the Knights of Pythias since 1891 and is a member of the Lutheran 
Church. 

In July, 1896, he married at Duluth Miss Berntsen, whose father 
was a cabinet maker in Norway. She came to Duluth in 1892 with her 
sister. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have four children : Ralph, Borghild, 
Fritjof and Eleanor. Borghild died at the age of two years and the 
other three were all graduated from the common schools at Cotton. 
Ralph, now twenty-two years of age, is employed as a farmer on the 
old homestead. Fritjof is employed in the Park department of the 
Steel Plant, while Eleanor is a student in the Denfield High School. 



1104 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Conrad B. Wolf is a genius and has turned his talents in the direc- 
tion of floriculture, horticulture and landscape gardening, and in these 
has been most thorough, theoretically and practically. While others have 
developed the material resources of Hibbing and its vicinity, his work 
has been of an educational and beautifying character. He has taken 
the native flowers and shrubs and by transplanting and grafting them 
has proven their wonderful possibilities for adornment. In this and 
many other ways he has proven himself a public benefactor. The rank 
and file of the people, as well as those of wealth, come to him daily 
for information, and the hundreds of flower and vegetable gardens which 
flourish at Hibbing are the result of his instruction and advice. Hib- 
bing is noted for its liberality in procuring the best of talent for its 
public service, and the park system, of which Mr. Wolf is superintend- 
ent, has won approval all over the state, for he is a master in his line. 
His work is not only a source of satisfaction to his home people, but a 
matter of wonderment and admiration to the visitors of Hibbing. While 
the acreage of the park system of the city is not of course as vast as 
that of larger municipalities, it would be difficult to find anywhere in the 
country any which is more artistically laid out and more beautifully 
arranged. Mr. Wolf is a frequent contributor to various magazines 
conducted in behalf of horticulture, and whatever he writes is accepted 
by those of his calling and the public as authoritative. Mr. Wolf pos- 
sesses that innate love for his work that marks the true artist. Without 
it not man can accomplish the best results no matter how thorough 
may be his training or how wide his experience. 

Conrad B. Wolf was born in Silesia, Germany, now a part of Poland, 
July 12, 1882. He was reared in his native country, and there his 
father, August Wolf, lived and died. Conrad B. Wolf secured his pre- 
liminary educational training in the public schools, and then he became 
a student in a high school of floriculture. For three years he was an 
apprentice to a horticulturalist, for in his native land lads were bound 
to a trade and were taught it thoroughly. After he had learned the 
fundamentals of horticulture Mr. Wolf worked as a florist, specializing 
in nursery work, the growing of fruit, deciduous trees and shrubs. 
Subsequently he studied and specialized in roses, growing them under 
glass and in the open for the trade. Later he went to Berlin and there 
specialized in landscape gardening, having during that period access to 
the imperial gardens. Going from Berlin to Heilbron on the Nekrar 
River, he was there engaged in specializing in landscape and nursery 
work. The quality of this work and his success brought him into notice 
and his services were secured by Eberhart Faber, the great pencil man- 
ufacturer, for his vast estate at Forchheim, near Murenberg in Bavaria, 
Germany. Following that Mr. Wolf was called to the colors and served 
for two years in the army. In November, 1906, he crossed the ocean 
to the United States to join his brother who had come to this country 
years before, and for a time worked on his farm in Michigan, and 
during that time studied the American language. A little later he 
entered the capitol greenhouse at Lansing, Michigan, and within a year 
had been made general superintendent of the establishment, so immedi- 
ate was his genius and experience recognized. Desiring to further per- 
fect himself in his knowledge of his calling he took special instruction 
in the Michigan Agricultural College. In the years following Mr. Wolf 
was connected with several greenhouses as manager, at Deadwood, South 
Dakota, growing produce for the market. Later he took charge of the 
greenhouses of W. W. Seekins of Duluth, Minnesota, where he was 
engaged in raising cut flowers, orchids, palms and various commercial 



_] 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1105 

plants, and doing an extensive landscape business for prominent citizens. 
The Oliver Iron Mining Company, hearing of his work, secured his 
services for their landscape gardening, and it was so beautiful, artistic 
and far in advance of anything ever conceived in that vicinity that the 
authorities of Hibbing took immediate steps to induce Mr. Wolf to locate 
permanently at Hibbing and assume charge of its park system. Satis- 
factory arrangements were finally made, and since May, 1912, he has 
been at the head of the park improvements of Hibbing. 

Mr. Wolf took out his first papers of naturalization in 1909 and com- 
pleted his full citizenship papers in 1914. He has never failed to appre- 
ciate the privileges accorded him in admitting him to citizenship, and 
has given his adopted country a loyal support. Fraternally he is a thirty- 
second degree Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Mason, a Mystic Shriner 
of Aad Temple of Duluth, and he also belongs to the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian. 

On November 25, 1909, Mr. Wolf was married to Atta L. Nichols, 
of Lansing, Michigan, and they have two children: Jessie M. and Max 
Conrad. 

R. R. Forward, whose life history is herewith outlined, is a man 
who has lived to good purposes and achieved a large degree of success, 
solely by his individual efforts. By a straightforward and commendable 
course he has made his way to a respected position in the business world 
of Duluth, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his com- 
munity and earning a reputation as an enterprising, progressive man of 
affairs, which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate. 
Those who know him best will readily acquiesce in the statement that 
he is eminently deserving of the material success which has crowned his 
efforts and of the high esteem in which he is held. 

R. R. Forward was born in Alden, Iowa, on July 13, 1873, son of 
Joseph S. and Sarah E. Forward. The family moved to Duluth, arriv- 
ing in that city April 22, 1880. Here the father was engaged first in the 
blast furnace business at Ricors Point, that being at a period before any 
iron ore was taken out on the Vermillion or Mesaba Ranges. He after- 
ward became foreman and then superintendent of the charcoal field, 
which position he held until 1884, when he built the Sherman Hotel 
in Duluth. He continued to follow the business of masonry contract- 
ing here during the remainder of his active business life. He was a 
veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in young manhood in Com- 
pany B of the 28th Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He took 
part in the siege of Vicksburg and many other important battles, serving 
a full enlistment period of three years and then re-enlisting for the 
remainder of the war and serving until its close, with a splendid record 
for faithful and courageous service. 

R. R. Forward attended the public schools of Duluth until he was 
fifteen years of age, when he obtained employment in a hardware store, 
first as office boy and then as a clerk. He remained with that company 
six and a half years and then formed a partnership with his cousin, 
B. A. Martin, in 1896. They purchased a bankrupt stock of hardware, 
formerly known as the West End Hardware Store, and they successfully 
conducted that store for a short time and then added a complete stock 
of furniture. The store business of R. R. Forward & Company was 
continued until the spring of 1916, when Mr. Forward sold his interest 
in the business and turned his attention to the handling of real estate, 
organizing the R. R. Forward Company and establishing an office in 
the Providence Building. He has handled a large amount of farms 



1106 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

and cutover lands and city property in and about Duluth, enjoying a 
large business along this line. 

Fraternally Mr. Forward is a member of Palestine Lodge No. 79, 
Free and Accepted Masons, and has attained to the thirty-second degree 
of the Scottish Rite and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He 
belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Duluth. He was 
one of the one hundred eighty-five men who organized the Duluth Com- 
mercial Club, and is still an active member of that body. He also holds 
membership in the Ridgeview Golf Club, Modern Woodmen of America 
and the Knights of the Maccabees. 

On November 24. 1897. Mr. Forward was married to Lucy Clara 
Neckstroth, and they have become the parents of seven children, namely : 
Robert R., Jr., who is a student in the University of Ames. Iowa; Joseph 
Allen, who is a student in Wilbraham Academy, Wilbraham, Massachu- 
setts ; F. Bruce, who is a student in the Central High School. Duluth; 
John R., Anna Elizabeth, Hubert L. and Lucy June are in the public 
schools. Although a quiet and unassuming man. with no ambition for 
public position or leadership, Mr. Forward has contributed much to the 
material, civic and moral advancement of the community, while his admir- 
able qualities of head and heart have won for him the esteem and con- 
fidence of the circles in which he has moved. 

Asa Dailey was born September 18, 1840, at Millrush, Ontario. At 
the age of' thirteen he immigrated with his family to Hudson, Wisconsin. 
In 1861, at the age of twenty-one, he enlisted in Company A, 30th Wis- 
consin, with which regiment he served throughout the war. After about 
four years in the lumber business at Hudson following the war, his doctor 
advised him to come to Duluth for his health. This was in 1870, before 
the first railroad reached Duluth and shipments of food products from 
the Twin Cities and Chicago were handled overland from the terminus 
at Carlton after the closing of navigation. He was one of those who 
saw the first train arrive from St. Paul on the old St. Paul & Duluth 
line, now the Northern Pacific. 

After working several years in local- sawmills he established a sawmill 
of his own on Park Point. From this mill he furnished lumber which 
was used in many of the first structures erected in Duluth, also furnishing 
the ties used in constructing the first street car line here. This line ran 
from Eighth avenue. West, to Fourth avenue. East. Later he operated 
a retail lumber yard on Lake avenue, from which business he was forced 
to retire on account of ill health. On recovering from this illness in 1893 
he accepted a position as deputy auditor of St. Louis County, which posi- 
tion he filled until the new Court House was completed, at which tune 
he was appointed custodian of the new Memorial Hall. This position 
gave him an opportunity he had long awaited — an opportunity to devote 
all of his time and energy to the upbuilding of the G. A. R. and affili- 
ated organizations in Duluth, guiding and assisting old veterans and their 
families in many ways. 

One of his hobbies has been the collection of war relics, and this col- 
lection, which is on exhibit at Memorial Hall, is one of the most inter- 
esting in the country. 

His last important work was that of compiling the data and arrang- 
ing for the casting of a massive memorial bronze tablet which contains 
the names of over 300 members of Willis A. Gorman Post No. 13, 
G. A. R., which was mounted in Memorial Hall on May 31, 1920. 
Mr. Dailey was one of the organizers of this Post and one of its first 
commanders. 




V_/V_J<Z_^t^/ £_/ £K^s£e~~y \^ 






. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1107 

He is survived by five children : Mrs. A. H. Little and Charles E. 
Dailey, of Duluth ; Frances P. Dailey, of Nampa, Idaho ; Josephene B. 
Dailey, of Minneapolis ; and Roy A. Dailey, of Seattle, Washington. 

R. M. Ritchie is an insurance man of long and varied and success- 
ful experience, and is secretary and manager of the Insurance Service 
Agency, Inc., a firm that occupies the entire second floor of the Glencoe 
Building at Third avenue, West, and First street in Duluth. This firm 
handles all departments of insurance as underwriters and engineers, cov- 
ering the fields of fire, liability and bonding, and represents manv of 
the foremost and standard companies, including the Aetna of Hartford, 
the American Central of St. Louis, the Atlas Assurance of London, the 
Citizens of St. Louis, the Equitable Fire and Marine of Providence, the 
Fireman's Fund of California, the German American of New York, 
Hanover Fire of New York, Hartford Fire of Hartford. National Fire 
of Hartford, New Hampshire Fire, New York Underwriters, Twin City 
Fire of Minneapolis, the American Surety Company, Fidelity and Deposit 
Company and United States Fidelity and Guaranty of Maryland. 

Mr. Ritchie was born at Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was the late 
John Ritchie, a native of New York, who spent his last years in Duluth, 
and was well known in newspaper circles both here and in other Amer- 
ican cities. R. M. Ritchie, who was the oldest of four children, was 
educated in the public schools of Chicago, and as a youth acquired his 
first experience in the insurance business. He came to Duluth in 1894 
and in 1912 was one of the organizers and incorporators of. the Insurance 
Service Agency, of which he is secretary and manager. 

Charles T. Kennedy was reared and educated in the east, but for 
the greater part of his active career has been in the lumber industry in 
the middle west and north. He has been a practical operator in all 
phases of converting timber into merchantable lumber, and is a member 
of the firm Klement & Kennedy, dealers in lumber, logs and timberland. 

Mr. Kennedy, whose operations have made him a familiar figure in 
lumber circles of the Duluth district, was born at Providence, Rhode 
Island, June 17, 1872. He was reared and educated in the east and in 
1898 came west and located at Medford, Wisconsin. There he entered 
the lumber business with L. W. Gibson, and the partnership of Gibson 
& Kennedy was continued until 1900, in which year Mr. Kennedy re- 
moved to Duluth. In 1906 he established the firm of Klement & Ken- 
nedy. They have bandied some of the most extensive log drives made 
on the Tapper Mississippi River, in a single season transporting as high 
as three hundred fifty million feet. of logs to the mills. 

Mr. Kennedy is active in Masonry, being affiliated with the Lodge 
and Royal Arch Chapter in Wisconsin, with the Knights Templar Com- 
mandery and Consistory at Milwaukee, and with Tripoli Temple of the 
Mystic Shrine in that city. June 18, 1896. in Wisconsin, he married 
Miss Blanch Gibson, a daughter of Joseph Gibson. They have one son, 
Joseph, who graduated in 1917. from college, having spent two years 
also in the University of Minnesota, and during the World war served 
as a soldier in Camp Pike. Arkansas, and at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. 

Philip F. Westbrook, who for a young man has had a remarkably 
varied experience in different branches of engineering and construction 
work, is a Duluth bridge contractor and has opened a promising field 
for himself in that industry and profession. 

Vol. Ill— 12 



1108 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Westbrook, whose offices are in the Torrey Building, was born 
December 17, 1891, at Dingman's Ferry in Pennsylvania. He was 
reared and educated in the east and in 1912 located at Munising, Mich- 
igan. While there he took up the study of forestry and had a good 
deal of practical experience in the woods and in surveying. To supple- 
ment his practical experience he also took some technical work in the 
University of Wisconsin. Returning to Marquette, Michigan, he was 
employed by G. W. Sherman, contractor, on some important hydro-elec- 
tric development. Later he was employed as an engineer by the Cleve- 
land Iron Company of Ishpeming in hydro-electric development on Dead 
River. 

Mr. Westbrook came to Duluth in June, 1919, associated with Arthur 
Mitchell, and they were engaged in prospecting work until March 1, 1920. 
Since that date Mr. Westbrook has given his chief time and attention 
to his business as a bridge contractor. He is a member of Masonic 
Lodge No. 422 at Munising, Michigan, and in politics is nominally a 
Republican, though ready to vote outside his party when the qualifica- 
tions of the candidate are obviously superior. 

William Murray. Of the men whose ability, industry and fore- 
thought h^ve added to the character, wealth and good government of 
Eveleth, none are better known than William Murray. He is a skilled 
mechanic, not only by training and long practice, but by temperament 
and preference, and for some years has been engaged in the handling 
of automobiles. Political tendencies and executive ability have added to 
the possibilities of business compensation and have broadened his efforts 
into the channels of chief of the volunteer fire department, alderman and 
vice president of the City Council. 

Mr. Murray was born in County Bruce, Province of Ontario. Can- 
ada, July 12, 1870, a son of Norman and Mary (MacDonald) Murray, 
farmjng people of Scotch nativity, who both died in Canada. One of 
ten children, William Murray secured his education in the public schools 
of his native place and in his fourteenth year began to learn the trade 
of blacksmith under the old system which involved the mastery of a 
fairly complete line of mechanics. In the spring of 1887. when sixteen 
years of age, he went to Saginaw, Michigan, where he found employ- 
ment at his trade, later went to Sault Ste. Marie, where he spent a winter, 
and in March, 1891, came to Merritt, Minnesota, where he did black- 
smith work for the first sawmill at that place, being employed by C. M. 
Hill, for whom he worked until 1894. At that time, with a partner, he 
opened a blacksmith shop at Virginia, but in July, 1896. transferred his 
activities to Eveleth, which has since been his home. At the time of his 
arrival Eveleth was nothing but a raw, uncouth mining camp, with little 
to indicate the growth and development that the years were to bring. 
Mr. Murray, however, believed that this locality would some day be a 
center of industrial and commercial activity, and his judgment has been 
vindicated. In the development and progress which have eventuated he 
has played his part, and can be truly numbered among the builders of 
the city. On coming to this locality he opened a blacksmith shop in 
the old town, and when the town was moved to the hill he came with it. 
For some years he continued to devote himself to blacksmithing. but, 
becoming alive to the trend of the times and public favor, he eventually 
leased his shop and turned his attention to the automobile industry, in 
which he has met with marked and well-merited success. 

Mr. Murray is a Republican and has long taken an active part in civic 
affairs. He was elected chief of the volunteer fire department, a capacity 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1109 

in which he served eight years, and at present is serving his third term 
as alderman and is also vice president of the Council. His public services 
have been valuable to his community, and through them he has added to 
the public confidence in which his straightforward business methods had 
placed. him He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian Church, and 
Mrs. Murray is a Catholic. On October 11, 1899, Mr. Murray was 
united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann McNellas, and they have one 
daughter, Anna Isabelle. 

Claude C. Alexander. For the past eleven years the welfare and 
efficiency of the public schools of Hibbing have been largely in the 
keeping of Claude C. Alexander, an educator of wide experience and a 
man of rounded and dignified character and abilities to command the 
respect of the community as well as to lead the local school system. 

Mr. Alexander, whose title is superintendent of Independent School 
District No. 27, which includes the village of Hibbing, was born at 
Arrow Rock, Missouri, October 23, 1880, son of Edwin T. and Margaret 
(Ancell) Alexander. His grandfather, James Alexander, was a native 
of Kentucky and prior to the Civil war moved to Missouri and during 
that struggle served in the Union army. His home and family experi- 
enced many of the rigors of border warfare. Edwin T. Alexander spent 
his life as a teacher and for many years was connected with the schools 
of Slater, Saline County, Missouri. He was of Scotch ancestry, while 
his wife, Margaret Ancell, also a native of Missouri, was of English 
stock. 

Claude C. Alexander grew to manhood in his native state, graduated 
from the high school at Slater at the as^e of eighteen, and then entered 
Missouri Valley College at Marshall, Missouri. He received his A. B. 
degree from this institution in 1904, and soon after entered upon his 
career as teacher in country schools. At intervals he continued his 
advanced studies in the University of Chicago and in 1910 earned his 
Master of Arts degree from that institution, having spent two years in 
the graduate school. From 1905 to 1909 he was superintendent of 
schools of Albany, Missouri, and in September, 1909, came to Hibbing 
as principal of the high school. In March, 1915, he was made super- 
intendent of Independent District No. 27. 

Mr. Alexander is a member of the Kiwanis Club, is vice president 
of the Commercial Club of Hibbing, is a past worshipful master of 
Mesaba Lodge No. 255, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has 
also taken fourteen degrees in Scottish Rite Masonry. He is an Elk, 
a Republican and a member of the Presbyterian Church. June 4, 1905, 
he married Miss Grace L. Newman, of Albany, Missouri. Their four 
children are Sarah Margaret, Jettie Lucile, Grace Elizabeth and 
Claude C, Jr. 

William W. Fenstermacher has been a resident of Duluth for 
twenty years, at one time was a letter carrier in the city, but is widely 
known for the substantial character of his enterprise as active head of 
the Duluth Realty Company and other commercial organizations in the 
real estate and development field. 

He was born at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, November 22, 1876, son of 
William and Albertine (Grundeman) Fenstermacher. From the age 
of fourteen William W. Fenstermacher has been solving the problems 
of life for himself. His education was such as he was able to acquire 
in common schools. He was not above doing any honest work to earn 
a living, and for a time peddled goods, also served an apprenticeship 



1110 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

and worked at the baker's trade in Oshkosh for three years, and in 
1898 came to Minnesota. For the first year he worked in a dry goods 
store at Winona and became identified with Duluth as traveling salesman 
out of this city. His employment as letter carrier with the postoffice 
continued for four years, when he resigned and in 1907 entered the real 
estate business. Mr. Fenstermacher organized the Duluth Realty Com- 
pany, an organization perfected for the handling of real estate, loans, 
insurance and collections and building management. Another business 
which he organized is known as the Rafencha Building Company, pri- 
marily for the purpose of building homes and selling them on the easv 
payment plan. He has been president, manager and treasurer of both 
companies. 

He is active in the Duluth Real Estate Exchange, is affiliated with the 
Masonic Order and Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he and 
his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1908 
Mr. Fenstermacher married Minnie Belle Mues. Her father. Edward F. 
Mues, was an early day merchant of Winona. Mr. and Mrs. Fenster- 
macher have a daughter. Florence Belle. 

Luther Bishop Arnold has been identified with Duluth for over 
twenty years as manager of the land department of two large railroad 
companies, and in that capacity has exercised a great deal of influence 
in the land development of northern Minnesota. 

Mr. Arnold was born at South Hadley. Massachusetts, November 9. 
1868, the older of the two children of his parents. His father was a 
native of Connecticut, where he attended school and college until about 
twenty years of age. and then spent a few vears in southern Illinois 
as a woolen manufacturer. On removing to Chicago he was connected 
with the White Hall fire clay works until his death October 30, 1885. 

Luther Bishop Arnold was educated both in Chicago and Boston, 
and at the a^e of eighteen went into the southwestern countrv as a 
member of the engineering department of the Chicago. Rock Island & 
Pacific Railway Company on surveys and construction. He was thus 
employed for three years, and in June, 1899. the Rock Island Railway 
Company employed him in connection with their Minnesota land grant 
lands, and he has also performed a similar service for the Duluth & Iron 
Range Railroad Company. He is manager of the Minnesota land grant 
lands of the two companies and looks after the details of their develop- 
ment and colonization. Nearly all his time is taken up with these impor- 
tant responsibilities, but he is interested in some small business activ- 
ities outside. 

Mr. Arnold is a Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Duluth Com- 
mercial Club, the Kitchi Gammi Club, Northland Golf Club. Curling 
Club, Boat Club, Y. M. C. A., and also the Minnesota Club of St. Paul. 
He is affiliated with [he Congregational Church and belongs to that 
rapidly increasing group of men who mobilize their political support for 
the best men and the most adequate principles. 

Scott L. Holtzlander is one of the quiet, unassuming men who 
accomplishes whatever he undertakes to do. As cashier of the Rogers- 
Brown Iron Company he is rendering a very efficient service to his 
emplovers and their men. while as a member of the Hibbing School 
Board he is succeeding in having educational matters placed on a firm 
foundation. The school board never had, nor will have, a more efficient 
and conscientious member than he. and the results of his efforts for 
the betterment of the schools will be felt for vears to come. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY . 1111 

Mr. Holtzlander was born at Flint, Michigan, January 27, 1873, a 
son of Samuel and Harriet (Wood) Holtzlander, and grandson of Adam 
Holtzlander. His ancestors came to the United States from Holland 
during the seventeenth century. Members of both sides of the family 
were soldiers in the American Revolution, and Adam Holtzlander fought 
in the War of 1812. Prior to the present generation the family name 
was spelled with an "s," but beginning with Scott L. the "s" has been 
changed to a "z." For generations back the members of the family have 
been farmers and landowners. 

Scott L. Holtzlander was born and reared on a farm and after he 
had attended the neighboring schools of the country regions he took 
the high school course at Flint, Michigan, and was graduated from it 
in June, 1895. During that course he split wood, for which he received 
ten cents a cord in order to buy the necessary books, and then walked 
six miles to school and six miles back home again each day. 

Having thus early learned the value of industry and thrift, when he 
began his business career with the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Company 
at North Tonawanda, New York, he had but little difficulty in getting 
ahead, and his work attracted the attention of the Rogers-Brown Iron 
Company, on the outlook for desirable men for their responsible posi- 
tions, and they offered him the position of cashier at Hibbing, which 
he accepted and came to this city in 1903, and still continues in that 
office. Since coming here Mr. Holtzlander has been identified with the 
progress of Hibbing. He is a Republican and for twelve years served 
as a member of the School Board, his last term of office expiring in 
1920. During this period he officiated at different times as president, 
secretary and treasurer of Independent School District No. 27. In 
religious faith he is a Presbyterian, and of that denomination at Hibbing 
he is now treasurer, and he was one of its charter members. He is a 
Thirty-second Degree Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Mason, and is 
past worshipful master of Mesaba Lodge No. 255, Ancient Free and 
Accepted Masons. 

On September 20, 1905, Mr. Holtzlander was united in marriage 
with Miss Elizabeth Magoffin, of North Tonawanda, New York. They 
are the parents of three children : Scott L., Jr., Elizabeth Jane and 
George Wood. During the great war Mr. Holtzlander served as an asso- 
ciate member of the Legal Advisory Board of the Selective Service Law, 
and in every way possible contributed his services to bring about the 
successful conclusion of the war. As a member of the Hibbing Com- 
mercial Club he keeps abreast of all of the advance movements in behalf 
of his community, and in every way measures up to the highest type of 
American manhood. 

Rudolph C. Kruschke, a man of sterling integrity and distinctive 
ability, gained a goodly share of pioneer honors in connection with the 
business activities of the city of Duluth and was one of its well known 
and highly honored citizens at the time of his death in 1918. His ini- 
tiative ability was on a parity with his resolute purpose, and he established 
and developed at Duluth a unique business which has been successfully 
continued since his death under the corporate title of the City Gun 
Store, Inc. The enterprise dates its inception back to the year 1881, 
and in its present status of importance the store well merits its title of 
"•Duluth's oldest athletic and sporting-goods establishment." 

Mr. Kruschke was born in the state of Wisconsin in the year 1859 
and was reared under the conditions and influences that marked the 
middle-pioneer period in the history of that commonwealth. There he 



1112 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

received his youthful education and there also he learned the trade of 
watchmaker, in which he became a specially skilled workman. In 1881, 
with a few tools required in his trade and with a capital that was repre- 
sented almost entirely in his technical ability and his determined purpose, 
Mr. Kruschke opened a Very modest little shop in Duluth on Lake ave- 
nue. His skill and the excellent service which resulted therefrom caused 
his business to expand and gain secure basis, and in 1889 he removed 
to more ample quarters at 16 West Superior street, where he had his 
first real store, with a limited stock of jewelry, watches, clocks, guns, 
etc. It was at this early period in his career as a business man in Duluth 
that Mr. Kruschke showed his provision and also his confidence in the 
future development of his home city, which he realized must become a 
favored trade center for game hunters and fishermen who should pene- 
trate the forest wilds and the attractive lakes and streams of this pic- 
turesque section. His belief that Duluth must become a gateway for 
such sportsmen, as well as for tourists, was attended with an equal 
confidence that here might be developed a substantial and prosperous 
business in the handling of sporting goods, especially those pertaining 
to the diversions of forest, stream and lake. He accordingly expanded 
his business by installing a larger stock of guns, ammunition, cutlery, 
fishing supplies and sporting goods, and later, as the tourist business 
became a feature of prominence in Duluth, he added a line of Indian 
goods, curios, souvenirs of local significance, novelties, toys, etc., the 
while he continued the jewelry department of the business from first 
to last. One-half of his store was fitted up as a curio and souvenir 
shop, and this feature of the business was later imitated by many other 
establishments in the city. He was the originator of this special line of 
enterprises here, including the handling of precious and semi-precious 
stones, many of which were produced from the raw materials found 
along the shores of Lake Superior. The increase in the scope of his 
business led Mr. Kruschke to make two other changes of location before 
he finally established the present finely equipped and appointed estab- 
lishment at 402 West Superior street, where headquarters have been main- 
tained since about the year 1896, and where the business has grown 
to large volume, the City Gun Store now representing one of the impor- 
tant business enterprises of Duluth. 

After conducting business for ten years under his own name 
Mr. Kruschke changed the title of his establishment to the City Gun 
Store, and in 1917, the year prior to that of his death, he incorporated 
the business under this title. Up to that time he had been the sole 
owner, and the stockholders of the City Gun Store, Inc., at the pres- 
ent time are his widow, who is president of the company ; his son, A. R. 
Kruschke, who is secretary ; and G. A. Kristy, who is treasurer. 
Mrs. Kruschke was bequeathed the shares of stock held by. her hus- 
band and now receives a substantial revenue from the business, in which 
she owns seventy-five per cent of the stock. She was a devoted com- 
panion and helpmate of her husband in the early years when he was 
struggling to establish a profitable business, even as she was after the 
enterprise had grown to be one of broad scope. 

Mr. Kruschke's exceptional skill as an artisan was couplied with 
much inventive genius, and of the various devices that thus engaged 
his attention the one which has proved most valuable and yielded the 
largest financial returns was the acetylene lamp which he invented for 
the use of miners, hunters, etc., the device being cleverly adapted for 
wearing on the head of the person using the same. This invention he 
placed on the market in 1899, under the name of the "Brilliant Search 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1113 

Light," and so excellent is the lamp that in its manufacture and sale 
a large and prosperous industrial enterprise has been developed, the 
while the lamps are now used in all parts of the world. The device 
and its exploitation led to the organizing of the Brilliant Search Light 
Manufacturing Company, and as a matter of commercial expediency 
the headquarters of this company were established in the city of Chi- 
cago in the spring of 1919. A son of the inventor has active manage- 
ment of the business and of the output of the factory fully sixty per 
cent is directed to export trade. 

Mr. K~ruschke was for nearly forty years actively engaged in business 
at Duluth, gained prosperity through his own ability and efforts, and 
by his sterling characteristics commanded the respect of all who knew 
him. He was one of the representative business men and loyal and 
representative citizens of Duluth at the time of his death, and in this 
publication a tribute to his memory is specially due. He took deep 
interest in all that touched the welfare and progress of his home city* 
was affiliated with leading fraternal and social organizations, and was 
of the best in the community life. 

Mr. Kruschke married Bertha Kumrow at Appleton, Wisconsin, in 
1880, and she resides at Duluth. Their three surviving children are: 
Alma R. Kruschke, now manager of the City Gun Store, Duluth ; Arthur 
F. Kruschke, in the grocery and confectionary business in Duluth ; and 
George A. Kristy, whose name was changed in 1914 by decree of court 
in Minneapolis, and who is now manager of the Brilliant Search Light 
Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois. 

Clyde Blough is one of the successful merchants of the Iron Range 
district, and has developed a prosperous establishment for the handling 
of men's clothing and furnishings at Chisholm. He came to northern 
Minnesota with some experience in merchandising, but practically no 
capital, and has promoted himself through persistent effort and the 
exercise of all the abilities and qualifications he possesses. 

He was born at LaGrange, Indiana, July 10, 1879, and is of old 
American ancestry. His father, William Blough, was born in the same 
state in 1868 and is a well to do farmer in northern Indiana. In 1874 
he married Miss Delilah A. Rowe, a native of the same section of this 
state and of an old Indiana family. 

Clyde Blough was the second of seven children, all of whom are 
still living. He attended grammar school and also high school at LaGrange, 
but left before finishing his high school education. At the age of twenty- 
one and during school days he had various employments that helped 
him support himself and gave him some business experience. On Novem- 
ber 20, 1900, soon after passing his twenty-first birthday, he entered 
the store of Theodore Crowle at LaGrange for the purpose of learning 
the clothing and furnishing business, and was continuously in his service 
for six years, until Mr. Crowle sold out. 

With this training and experience Mr. Blough came to Chisholm in 
August, 1906, and for three years was employed by McEachin Brothers, 
dealers in men's clothing, but in 1909 engaged in business for himself and 
the past eleven years have rewarded him generously with a successful 
business and a position of esteem in the community. He is a director 
of the Chamber of Commerce, has served as school director of Inde- 
pendent School District No. 40, and during the World war was captain 
of his district for the Liberty Loan drives. He is a stanch Republican 
and is affiliated with Lodge No. 1334 of the Elks. On November 3, 1909, 
he married Miss Mae Dennis, of Merrill, Wisconsin. They have one 
daughter, Delilah Jane, born November 16, 1913. 



1114 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

John E. Meyer. Clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in 
the affairs of life will inevitably result in the attaining of a due measure 
of success, but in following out the career of one who has attained success 
by his own efforts there conies into view the intrinsic individuality which 
made such accomplishment possible, and thus there is enkindled a feeling 
of. respect and admiration. The qualities which have made Mr. Meyer 
one of the successful men of Duluth have also brought him the esteem 
of his fellow townsmen, for his career has been one of well-directed 
energy, strong determination and honorable methods. 

John E. Meyer, manager at Duluth for the Barnett & Record Com- 
pany, engineers and general contractors, was born November 6, 1875, 
in Bay City, Michigan, and is the second in order of birth in a family 
of five children. His father, L. F. Meyer, is now a resident of Portland, 
Oregon. John E. Meyer received his education in the public schools 
of Bay City, and then took a commercial course in a business college in 
that city. He began his independent career as an employe in a box 
factory at Bay City, afterward working in a pail factory in the same 
city. He then engaged in the lumber business on his own account, 
continuing that business for fifteen years and becoming widely known, 
filling large contracts for heavy construction timbers all over the country. 
In 1902 Mr. Meyer became connected with the Barnett & Record Com- 
pany of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was sent to Duluth as local man- 
ager for that company in this city. He has been eminently successful 
in this capacity and has so handled the company's business here as to win 
their approval and appreciation. The Barnett & Record Company has 
designed and erected approximately a thousand structures of various 
kinds, including wooden, steel, concrete and tile grain elevators, malt 
works, flour mills, packing houses, factory buildings, hotels, court houses, 
school houses, and other public buildings, besides many ore, coal, freight 
and dry docks around the Great Lakes. The company was originally 
organized in 1882 and incorporated in 1892 and is a close corporation, all 
of the stockholders being active workers in the organization. 

In 1901 Mr. Meyer was married to Mary Magee. of Bay City, and 
they are the parents of two children. Mr. Meyer is a man of action 
rather than words. He is eminently utilitarian, and energy of char- 
acter, firmness of purpose and unswerving integrity are among his 
chief characteristics. Because of his excellent qualities of character 
and his business ability, he enjoys the confidence of those who have had 
dealings with him and the good will of the community at large. 

Albert J. Bawden. A native son of Duluth, Albert J. Bawden is a 
civil engineer by profession, and has spent a number of years in the 
service of the municipal and county public works, being now the expert 
technical man in charge of all drainage projects in St. Louis County. 

He was born in Duluth August 19, 1888, son of Albert H. and Susan J. 
(Renfree) Bawden, the former a native of Michigan, while the mother 
was born in Cornwall, England. Albert H. Bawden, who came to Duluth 
in 1882, was one of the pioneer mining men of the Upper Lakes, was 
employed as a miner in the copper country for a time, and continued 
to be identified with the mining industry until his death on May 10, 1911. 

Of three children, all living, Albert J. is the second in age. He was 
educated in the public schools of Duluth and was twenty years of age 
i when in 1908 he took up the practical work of the engineering profession. 
For three years he was a rod man on the staff of T. F. McGilvray, then 
city engineer. This was followed by employment as engineer for the 
water and light department, and then as assistant road engineer under 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1115 

County Road Engineer E. C. Coe. The greater part of his valued services - 
for the county have been connected with drainage problems. He was 
assistant engineer of drainage in the county, but for several years 
past has had entire charge of drainage work. 

In politics Mr. Bawden votes independently and is a member of 
the Lutheran Church. During the World war he served as a sergeant 
in the Fourth American Machine Gun Battalion overseas, receiving his 
discharge at Camp Dodge January 25, 1919. November 27, 1917, he mar- 
ried Miss Amanda Gunderson, daughter of August Gunderson. She 
received her education in the schools of Duluth and at Spooner, Wis- 
consin. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Bawden are Edna, born 
September 1, 1918, and John, born April 26, 1920. 

Edwin Johnson. While he had to borrow fourteen hundred dollars 
to buy his first passenger car nine years ago, Edwin Johnson is now 
president and owner of The White Taxicab Company, a corporation 
operating on a hundred thousand dolar capital and one of the most sub- 
stantial enterprises of the kind in northern Minnesota and with an unex- 
celled service in taxis, touring cars and sight-seeing busses. 

Edwin Johnson was born in St. Paul, October 20, 1887, a son of 
A. Johnson, who was born in Sweden and is now living retired at the 
age of sixty-five at 1924 West Seventh street. Edwin Johnson, younger 
of two children, was educated in public schools, learned the trade of 
electrician, and for five years was employed by the telephone companies 
at Duluth. 

It was on leaving that service that he took up the automobile business 
as driver of his own car. In the fall of 1913 he started a bus line between 
Gary and New Duluth. The war having come on the steel plant shut 
down in 1914, all the people moved away, and Mr. Johnson had to 
discontinue his route. Just a week later he opened the Proctor Bus Line, 
at that time running on a schedule of two hour intervals, and this line 
is still a prominent feature of The White Taxicab Company's service, 
operating cars every hour from six in the morning until twelve midnight. 
These busses run between the Spalding Hotel and Proctor, and the 
service continues uninterrupted both winter and summer. 

In 1917 The White Taxicab Company was incorporated with Mr. John- 
son as president and sole owner, Al Julin, vice president and treasurer, 
and D. Glockle, secretary. The assets of the company today are a hun- 
dred thousand dollars. The company maintains an office in the heart 
of the business section and a large and well equipped garage at 122-124 
West Second street. They employ on an average of thirty people and the 
business is kept up to the highest standard of efficiency, being a notable 
instance of an organization disciplined and responsive to the energy, ambi- 
tion and courteous instincts of its organizer and executive head. The 
growth in the business has been nothing less than wonderful, since 
Mr. Johnson started driving only one five-passenger car, while now the 
company's equipment consists of twenty-two cars, including two auto- 
mobile hearses, seven closed limousines, six open touring cars, and seven 
twenty-passenger busses. 

The permanent quality of the business is reflected in the fact that 
the organization and service were well maintained while Mr. Johnson, 
the head, was performing his patriotic duties to the Government during 
the World war. He went into the service June 15, 1918, and was honor- 
ably discharged at Camp Dodge, February 6, 1919. He served as a 
corporal in the 552d Motor Transport Corps, spending eight months at 
Camp Humphrey, Virginia. Mr. Johnson resides in the Commercial 



1116 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Club Building. He has been an active member of that organization 
several years and is also a member of the Curling Club, Boat Club and 
Automobile Club of Duluth. 

Simon Clark is one of Duluth's oldest merchants, with forty years 
of continuous business to his credit. He has long been prominent as an 
official in the State and National Association of Grocers and is manager 
and president of the Duluth Marine Supply Company, one of the prin- 
cipal concerns supplying groceries and meats to lake transportation. This 
company succeeded the first ship chandlery business established at 
Duluth. The company was incorporated in 1908 with Mr. Clark as presi- 
dent and G. A. Tomlinson as secretary and treasurer. On account of 
his expert knowledge Mr. Tomlinson was called away by the Government 
during the war and was sent to France to afford the benefit of his 
experience to the Quartermaster's Department. 

Simon Clark was born August 15, 1855, in Scotland, son of Thomas 
and Jessie (Mackenzie) Clark. His father for many years was in busi- 
ness at the historic and picturesque Stornway on the Scottish coast. 
Mr. Clark's mother was a noted Gaelic scholar. A great-grandmother 
of Mr. Clark attained the great age of a hundred five years and died 
at Stornway as the result of an injury caused by stepping on an icy 
sidewalk. 

Simon Clark acquired a good high school education at Glasgow and 
came to Duluth and entered the grocery trade in 1880. From 1900 to 
1906 he was state president of the Minnesota Grocers Association. In 
1897 was elected vice president of the National Grocers Association 
at the convention in Dallas, Texas. From January, 1903, to April 1, 1905, 
he served as surveyor general of logs and lumber for the Fifth District of 
Minnesota, under appointment by Governor Van Sant. 

Mr. Clark is also widely known in fraternal and club life. He is an 
Odd Fellow, Knight of Pythias, Modern Samaritan, Elk, and in 1894 
was elected loyal chief of the Order of Scotch Clans, the highest execu- 
tive office of the order at New Haven, Connecticut, and was re-elected 
at Duluth in 1895. He is also a member of the Royal League and the 
Commercial Club. October 18, 1880, Mr. Clark married Miss Maggie 
McGhie, of Lockerbie, Dumfrieshire, Scotland. Ten children were born 
to their marriage. 

C. W. Carhart went into the undertaking business at an early period 
in his career, and for a number of years past has been actively identi- 
fied with the wholesale casket business at Duluth as general manager 
of the Duluth Burial Case Company. 

He was born at Mechanicsville. New York, November 2, 1868, son of 
J. W. and Theresa (Mumford) Carhart. His parents were natives of 
New York state, and his father gave his active career to the practice 
of medicine. For many years he lived at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, but died 
at Austin, Texas. 

C. W. Carhart, fifth in a family of eight children, attended the 
public schools of New York, and at the age of fifteen became clerk in 
a dry goods store. Later he entered the undertaking business at Oshkosh, 
was embalmer for the firm of Spikes & McDonald, and after ten years 
engaged in the undertaking business for himself. For twelve years he 
was a traveling salesman for the Northern Casket Company, and in 
1912 moved to Duluth and became general manager of the wholesale 
casket firm of the Duluth Burial Case Company. He has given all his 
energies to building this enterprise from a small jobbing concern until 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1117 

it is one of the leading manufacturing and wholesale organizations of 
the kind in the northwest. The business was almost exclusively jobbing, 
handling the goods of other manufacturers until two years ago, but now 
the company manufactures practically all the supplies it sells. The 
business territory now covers the states of Minnesota, Michigan and 
Wisconsin. 

Mr. Carhart is a member of Lakeside Lodge, Ancient Free and 
Accepted Masons, is a Republican in politics, a member of the Episcopal 
Church and is active in the Duluth Commercial Club. He married Maude 
McDonald of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and they have two children, William 
and Janet. 

Captain Martin Trewhella. A resident of St. Louis County more 
than twenty-three years, and closely identified with ore development on 
the Ranges, Captain Martin Trewhella has the distinction of having mined 
and produced the first iron ore on properties owned and operated by and 
for the great machinery manufacturing corporation known as the Inter- 
national Harvester Company. This was done in the Agnew Mine, still 
a property of the International Company, and of which Captain Tre- 
whella is superintendent. 

He was born in a great mining district, Cornwall, England, on June 14, 
1861, and is the only survivor of the two children of Martin and Maria 
(Pope) Trewhella. He completed a high school education in his native 
country, and for several years lived with an uncle who was superintend- 
ent of tin mines in Cornwall, and had incidental employment in these 
mines, this constituting his first practical mining experience. In 1878, 
at the age of seventeen, Martin Trewhella left England, crossed the 
Atlantic, and for a time was employed in the coal mines of Pennsyl- 
vania. For about twenty months he held the position of fire boss. 
Early in 1881 he went to Ishpeming, Marquette County, Michigan, 
and there began iron ore mining, serving a part of the time as mine boss. 
While living there he made a trip to Montana, and spent two and a 
half years in that state in charge of sinking a shaft for a copper mine. 
He then returned to Ishpeming, and in 1897 came to the Mesaba Range 
of northern Minnesota. His first work here was as mining captain of 
the Auburn Mines at Virginia for the Minnesota Iron Company. A year 
later he was made superintendent of the Stevenson Mine at Hibbing 
for the Corrigan-McKinney Company, and in May, 1902, was employed 
by the Deering Harvester Company of Chicago to open the Agnew Mine. 
The Deering Harvester Company is one of the large and originally inde- 
pendent units .now comprised in the International Harvester Company. 
For eighteen years Captain Trewhella has been in charge of the Agnew 
Mine for the Deering and the International Companies. 

He is one of the widely known citizens of the Meseba District, and 
is a stalwart American citizen, having taken out his naturalization papers 
as soon as he reached the United States and completed his citizenship 
at Ishpeming. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, a Republican 
and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. March 22, 1887, Captain 
Trewhella married Eliza Andrews. 

M. I. Stewart, president and active head of the Stewart-Taylor 
Company, has for several years directed the destinies of a business and 
industry that under successive names and changes is one of the oldest 
commercial printing houses in the northwest, and one that has been 
kept equal to the demands of commerce and art as represented in the 
printing trades from time to time. 



1118 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

The business was first established about 1887 by Mr. J. L. Thwing, 
but it was nearly twenty years later before Mr. Stewart acquired an 
interest in the business. Mr. Stewart was born at Lynchburg, Ohio, 
November 27, 1877, and came to northern Minnesota when a boy. He 
acquired a public school education and graduated from high school 
in Duluth in 1896. During 1896-97 he attended the University of Min- 
nesota and from 1897 was a student at the University of Nebraska until 
graduating in 1902. While in university he took up newspaper work 
and was employed by the State Journal Company .of Lincoln. In 1902 
he bought a half interest in the Faribault Journal in Minnesota, but 
sold out the following year and returned to Duluth and became con- 
nected with the newly organized City National Bank, serving the best 
interests of that institution for over two years. 

On December 1, 1905, Mr. Stewart bought a half interest in the 
printing establishment of J. L. Thwing, thus bringing into existence the 
firm title of Thwing-Stewart Company. It has been conducted as a high 
class commercial printing establishment, handling all classes of general 
printing. During the past fifteen years great advances have been recorded 
and many improvements and changes in the business. When Mr. Stewart 
entered the firm in 1905 the plant was at 26-28-30 West . First street. 
The following year more space had to be secured for the growing busi- 
ness and the location was changed to 116 West First street. Two years 
later another move was necessitated by business demands, and this 
time the company made its last move to date, to 310-312 West Second 
street. In 1909 the business was incorporated with J. L. Thwing as presi- 
dent and Mr. Stewart as secretary and treasurer. In 1912 Mr. Thwing 
sold his entire interest to Mr. Stewart. A year later Charles W. Oppel 
entered the organization, and a few months later the name was changed 
to the M. I. Stewart Company. About the same time Alonzo W. Taylor, 
who had been connected with the City National Bank of Duluth for 
eight years, joined the company and assumed the office of treasurer. 
On the retirement of Mr. Thwing Mr. Stewart succeeded him as presi- 
dent, while Mr. Oppel has been secretary and vice president several 
years. Since January 1, 1920, the name of the company has been the 
Stewart-Taylor Company. 

On November 21, 1907, Mr. Stewart married Elfrida G. Schlick, 
daughter of Dr. and Mrs. A. T. Schlick, of Duluth. They have one son, 
M. I. Stewart, Jr. Mr. Stewart is a member of the Commercial Club, 
Rotary Club and Boat Club. 

M. J. Harney has been a resident of Duluth for four decades, spent 
most of his boyhood in this city, and as a sheet metal worker and busi- 
ness man has firmly established himself in business affairs and among the 
substantial citizens. 

Mr. Harney was born in Ireland May 17, 1872. He was eight years 
of age when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Harney, left Ireland and 
came to the United States and to Duluth. John Harney lived at Duluth, 
worked many years as a laborer, and died in 1912, the father of seven 
children. 

Next to the youngest of these children M. J. Harney, who attended 
public and parochial schools of Duluth, at the age of sixteen entered 
upon his apprenticeship to learn the trade of metal worker. After 
learning the trade he was employed as a journeyman for six years, and 
then engaged in business for himself at 18 East Superior. His plant 
is now at 121 West First street, where he has a highly prosperous busi- 
ness, employing a number of workers and handling contracts for sheet 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1119 

metal work and roofing, furnace installation, and all kindred work 
included in those lines. 

Mr. Harney is a Catholic, member of the Knights of Columbus and 
votes independently. He married Miss Ella Smith. They are the parents 
of five children, three sons and two daughters. 

George J. O'Haire. Among the representative business men of 
St. Louis County the name of George J. O'Haire, of Duluth, should 
be mentioned here. He has devoted himself very largely to the automo- 
bile business, having carried on his business with that discretion, fore- 
sight and energy which have found their natural sequel in definite 
success. Having always been a hard worker, a good manager and a 
man of conservative habits, it is no wonder that he has won the posi- 
tion he today enjoys in the business world. 

George J. O'Haire, president of the Service Motor Company, Duluth, 
was born in Springfield, Walworth County, Wisconsin, February 10, 
1877, and is the eldest of the four children who blessed the union of 
Patrick and Mary (Brady) O'Haire, of Corliss, Wisconsin. Patrick 
O'Haire, who was born and reared in Ireland, came to the United States 
in 1865, and immediately engaged in railroad construction work, building 
railroads through the states of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. He is 
still living at Corliss, jWisconsin, at the age of ! seventy-six years. 
George J. O'Haire received his educational training in the public schools 
of Corliss and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and then took a commercial 
course at the E. L. Casterton Business College at Racine, Wisconsin. 
At the age of thirteen years he earned his first money as a clerk in a 
grocery store, where he remained for seven years. In the spring of 1898, 
at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he enlisted in Company F, 
First Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, under the command of 
Captain William Mitchell Lewis, remaining with that regiment during 
the period of his service. From Racine the regiment went to Jackson- 
ville, Florida, where they trained under General Fitz-Hugh Lee, com- 
manding the Seventh Army Corps, and remained there until they were 
discharged from the service in December, 1898. 

After leaving the army Mr. O'Haire returned home and entered the 
employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Companv, for 
whom he worked for two years. He then became the owner of a barber 
shop, which he operated for seventeen years. At the end of that time 
he became a retail salesman for the Ford Motor Company, remaining 
in this employ for fifteen months, and then, upon the discontinuance of 
retail sales by the Ford Motor Company, he came to Duluth to enter 
the wholesale field for that company. He became interested in the 
agency that was open in this city at that time through the changing of 
the plans of the Ford people and, associating himself with P. K. Priest, 
they opened an agency under the title of the Service Motor Company, 
with headquarters at 122-124 East Superior street, and they are still 
doing business at that location. This company has enjoyed a remarkable 
prosperity and growth as the result of persistent energy and close appli- 
cation, as it evidenced by the fact that in three years the business grew 
from a volume of $25,000 a year to $500,000, with every assurance of a 
still further constant increase. The organization today necessitates a 
force of thirty people, including the office help, and the sales of this 
company are without a doubt the equal of any individual retail auto- 
mobile concern at the Head of the Lakes. This splendid condition 
reflects great credit on the business ability and high standing of the 
gentlemen who have directed its career. 



1120 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

On October 20, 1902, Mr. O'Haire was married to Jennie A. Smith, 
at Corliss, Wisconsin. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Smith, 
who came from Vermont to that state and located on a farm. To this 
union has come a son, Harry J., born on June 3, 1905, who is now in 
attendance at the Brothers School at the Cathedral. 

Politically Mr. O'Haire was formerly a Democrat, but at present he 
assumes an independent attitude, voting according to the dictates of his 
own judgment, regardless of party lines. Fraternally he is a member of 
the Knights of Columbus, and he is also a member of the Commercial 
Club and the Duluth Boat Club. For diversion Mr. O'Haire turns to 
fishing, of which he is ardently fond, being a lover of outdoor life. 
He is universally recognized as a splendid citizen, of sturdy integrity, right 
motives and the advocate of every worthy movement for the advance- 
ment of the best interests of the community. 

Walter H. Borgen, county auditor of St. Louis County, is a native 
son of Duluth, and for a number of years has been well known in busi- 
ness life and politics. 

He was born March 21, 1884, at Duluth, a son of Anton and Olivia 
(Brenteson) Borgen. Duluth has long known and esteemed the splendid 
qualities of Anton Borgen. Born in Norway, he came to America in 1871, 
settling in Minnesota, and has been a resident of Duluth since 1877. 
For thirty years he was a grocery merchant, and is still living at the 
age of seventy-one. Respected as a man of good judgment and business 
ability, he was sent to the Legislature for five terms, serving from 1907 
to 1915 on the Republican side of the body. His legislative record shows 
that he was on the right side at practically every occasion. 

Walter H. Borgen is the third in a family of six children, all of 
whom are still living. He attended the public schools of Duluth, but 
most of his education has been acquired by practical experience. At 
the age of fifteen he began learning telegraphy, and for six years was 
an operator with the Duluth and Northern Railway. Leaving railroading, 
he took up other lines, and eventually became secretary of the Merritt 
Brothers organization, and had an active part in their extensive iron ore 
operations. He was with that well known firm of pioneer Duluthians for 
eight years. 

His first important public service was rendered in 1912 as a member 
of the Board of Civil Service Commissioners. In 1915 he was appointed 
chief clerk of the Legislature, and from 1915 to 1919 served as city 
clerk of Duluth. He was elected to his present office as county auditor 
in 1918. Mr. Borgen is a Republican, and still has some active business 
interests. He is a Knight Templar Mason, has filled all the chairs in the 
Royal Arch Chapter, and is also a member of the Elks and other fraternal 
orders. 

October 16, 1907, he married Miss Grace Bush, of a Kansas family. 
# Their two daughters are Catherine and Ruth. 

Carl A. A. Heed. One of the men who supplied the initiative, the 
foresight and the genius at the beginning of the Mesaba Transportation 
Company, one of the Iron Range's leading transportation services, as 
described elsewhere in this history, was Carl A. A. Heed, now president 
of the corporation. His career has been one of interesting self achieve- 
ment and a utilization of opportunity. 

Born in Sweden June 25, 1886, a son of Andrew Anderson Heed, 
who is still living in the old country, he was one of four children and 
remained in Sweden to the age of eighteen. He had a common school 




&*+/&& #&ej 




-O-^-^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1121 

education. While a boy in Sweden he heard of friends who had come 
to America and found better advantages for themselves and he deter- 
mined to follow their example. Though unable to speak a word of the 
English language on arriving, he made good use of his ability to work, 
and was first employed as a section hand on the Duluth, South Shore 
and Atlantic Railroad in Michigan at thirty dollars a month. In 1907 
he came to Hibbing, and from 1907 until 1912 was in the service of 
Mr. A. P. Silliman as assistant drill helper. Later he became associated 
with C. E. Wickman selling tires and operating an automobile repair and 
accessory business. It was out of this that the first motor transport 
service was initiated that became the nucleus of the present great busi- 
ness of the Mesaba Transportation Company. 

Mr. Heed is a thirty-second degree Mason, member of the Mystic 
Shrine, and of the Order of Elks. In September, 1915, he married Anna 
Maria Thorsell, of Duluth. They have three children: Elsie, Carroll May 
and Ardon Thorsell. Mr. Heed is a Republican in politics. 

Andrew G. Anderson, who is treasurer of the Mesaba Transportation 
Company and was one of the three men who started the business, as a 
history of the company described on other pages, has been identified 
with the mining region of northern Michigan and Minnesota practically 
all his mature career, and has gained success from humble beginnings. 

He was born in Sweden January 4, 1882. He was two years old 
when his father, Andrew Anderson, died, and at the age of ten the 
death of his mother left him an orphan. He grew up in Sweden and 
after the death of his mother had to earn his own living. He came 
to the United States at the age of seventeen, and was first employed in 
the iron mines at Negaunee, Michigan, also was a mine worker at 
Republic, in the mines at Ishpeming, and in October, 1902, came to 
the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota. For seven months he was a 
contractor taking out ore in the Chisholm Mine, and in 1903 began 
exploring and drilling for the Carleson Exploration Company. Thus all 
his early interests for a number of years were identified with the chief 
industry of the Iron Range country. It was during his work and travels 
over the Range that he conceived the idea of a motor service for handling 
passengers between Hibbing and Alice, and in a small way he put this 
project into execution, his associate being Charles Wember. That in 
reality was the foundation or cornerstone of the immense transportation 
business now known as the Mesaba Transportation Company. 

Mr. Anderson secured his naturalization papers as soon as possible 
after coming to this country and has given a conscientious performance 
to the duties and obligations of American citizenship. He is an independ- 
ent voter in politics. He is a member of the Methodist Church, is a 
thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and a member of 
the Elks. On February 19, 1916, he married Hilda Johnson. 

Edwin C. Ekstrom, secretary of the Mesaba Transportation Com- 
pany, has known the life of the Iron Range from many standpoints. 

He was born at Ludington, Michigan, March 19, 1889, a son of Alex- 
ander and Johanna (Johnson) Ekstrom. His parents were natives of 
Finland, but were married in the United States and in 1900 located at 
Hibbing, where Alexander Ekstrom died in 1902 and where the mother is 
still living. Edwin C. Ekstrom acquired his early education at Luding- 
ton and at Hibbing, and was only thirteen when he became an under- 
ground worker in the old Hull Mine operated by the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company. The successive problems of life he has solved as they have 



1122 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

arisen. After two years in the mine he worked a year in the mine office, 
later became timekeeper, supply clerk and performed other duties, and 
in the latter part of 1905 entered the service of A. P. Silliman, one of 
the notable figures in the Hibbing district, first as engineer helper, then 
bookkeeper, then in charge of the office. Altogether he was with Mr. Silli- 
man until early in 1917. For a few months he performed the duties of a 
public accountant, and on January 1, 1918, became a stockholder and 
secretary of the Mesaba Transportation Company and has handled most 
of the business and its technical detail. The history and service of this 
business are described elsewhere. 

Mr. Ekstrom is a member of Christ Memorial Episcopal Church and a 
vestryman, is a Republican, is a member of the Hibbing Public Library- 
Board, a director of the Commercial Club, and a member of the Kiwanis 
Club. Fraternally he is a Scottish Rite Mason and Mystic Shriner and 
also an Elk. 

June 14, 1915, he married Miss Ethel Salmonson, of Virginia, Minne- 
sota. Their two children are Edwin Carl. Jr., and Mary Ann. 

Mesaba Transportation Company. The revolutionary changes in 
transportation predicted and promised by the advent of the automobile 
have a striking illustration in the growth and development of the Mesaba 
Transportation Company, which is strictly a motor vehicle concern, em- 
ploying motor trucks and using the public highways. 

In the latter part of 1914 three men, C. E. Wickman. Andrew G. 
Anderson and Carl A. A. Heed established a service with a Hupmobile 
seven-passenger touring car as a bus making regular trips for the accom- 
modation of passengers between Hibbing (now South Hibbing) and 
Alice. The car was well patronized, the service proved profitable, and 
the men in charge foresaw possibilities that as rapidly as possible they 
utilized. Looking out over the Range country they carefully considered 
the state of transportation. The Great Northern Railway maintained 
one passenger train a day from Hibbing to Grand Rapids, but for all 
practical purposes a number of villages were really isolated communities. 
In June, 1915, the three partners purchased two White twelve-passenger 
busses and instituted an important addition to their service, operating one 
passenger truck to Alice and the other to Nashwauk. 

On January 1. 1916, the Mesaba Transportation Company was organ- 
ized by the three enterprising young business men just mentioned. They 
incorporated with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. The officers 
were at the beginning also operating officials, driving the busses, looking 
after repairs, and handling any and all branches of the business. Since 
then the enterprise has grown until their time is required for managing 
and directing the extensive organization. While they use some other 
cars, their equipment is now almost entirely White trucks. They have 
twenty-two of these White busses in operation. During the war they 
instituted a distinct department for the manufacture of car bodies, and 
they also maintain an extensive repair service. The larger cars have a 
carrying capacity of eighteen passengers and operate on a regular sched- 
ule between Hibbing and Grand Rapids. The service now extends to 
nearly every village and industrial center in the iron range district, and 
during 1919 it was estimated that the company handled a traffic of 
seven thousand passengers daily on the average. 

The first president of the Mesaba Transportation Company was J. F. 
Lindberg. while C. A. A. Heed was vice president, C. E. Wickman gen- 
eral manager and secretary, and Andrew G. Anderson, treasurer. Since 
1918 Mr. Heed has been president and C. E. Wickman is general man- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1123 

ager and vice president, Andrew G. Anderson is treasurer, E. C. Ekstrom, 
secretary, and the other member of the board of five directors is R. A. L. 
Bogan, who has been connected with the corporation from the beginning. 
In 1920 a new home was established for the company at South Hib- 
bing, involving a total cost of about a hundred thousand dollars. On 
January 1, 1920, a subsidiary corporation known as the Mesaba Motor 
Company was organized, primarily for the erection of the new home 
and also to perform a general garage, repair and sales service, represent- 
ing the White trucks and other automobile accessories. The Mesaba 
Motor Company is operated by practically the same men who comprise 
the Mesaba Transportation Company. 

Asa T. Lyons, Sr. Throughout an active and interesting career 
duty has ever been the motive of action with Asa T. Lyons, one of the 
representative business men of Duluth, and usefulness to his fellow men 
has by no means been a secondary consideration with him. Thus strong 
and forceful in his relations with his fellows, he has gained the good 
will and commendation of his associates and the general public, retaining 
his reputation among men for integrity and high character and never 
losing the dignity which is the birthright of the true gentleman. 

Asa T. Lyons, Sr., was born in the state of Maine on August 10, 
1877. His father, who also was a native of Maine, was connected with 
the marine service, in which capacity he started from Canada for Eng- 
land with a cargo of wheat. What disaster overtook the ship was never 
known, as from that time no trace was ever had of ship or crew. In 
1884 Asa T. Lyons and his brother were brought by their mother to 
Duluth, and here he attended the public schools. However, he was at 
a disadvantage, for he was compelled to spend his nights as a telegraph 
messenger boy, going to school as he was able during the daytime. From 
the age of twelve years he was variously employed and at sixteen years 
of age he entered railroad service, being employed as a clerk in the local 
railroad yards. He was holding this position at the time of the great 
strike in 1894, and with thousands of others he lost his job. 

Mr. Lyons' first independent business venture was just after he left 
the railroad service, when for a year or more he engaged in the livery 
business, following which he owned and operated three hacks for public 
hire on the streets of Duluth. He continued in this business up to the 
time of the advent of automobiles, when, foreseeing the future popu- 
larity and usefulness of the auto in all lines of public service, he organ- 
ized an auto taxi line, with headquarters at No. 423^4 West Superior 
street. In this he was eminently successful and continued to personally 
operate the taxi service until 1919, when, upon the return of his son 
Robert J. from overseas military service, he turned over to the latter 
the taxi business and gave his own attention to the real estate business, 
entering into a partnership with William L. Tull. In this business also 
Mr. Lyons has been successful, and he and Mr. Tull have been engaged 
in some large land deals affecting the growth and development of the 
city. They have platted a number of additions to the city, en which 
homes have been built, and they sell to the man of moderate income on 
terms that enable him to purchase his home without hardship. 

Politically Mr. Lyons is independent, voting for the men and measures 
which his judgment approves. Fraternally he is a member of the Benev- 
olent Society, a local organization. On November 17, 1917, at Supe- 
rior, Wisconsin, he was married to Julia Jackson, and to their union six 
children have been born, namely: Asa T., Jr.. who was formerly a 
sailor, but is now employed in a steel plant in Duluth; Robert J., who. 

Vol. Ill— 13 



1124 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

as narrated above, was with the American Expeditionary Forces in 
France, and since his return home has taken charge of the auto taxi 
service formerly operated by his father; Dorothy E., Bernice, Mary and 
Francis, who are attending the public schools. In every relation of life 
Mr. Lyons has acted well his part and because of his honorable career 
and his business success he enjoys a well-merited popularity in the com- 
munity in which he lives. 

Robert Forbes. One of the conspicuous figures in the present-day 
history of Duluth and St. Louis county is Robert Forbes, one of the most 
competent and expert judges of mineral lands in the country, and who 
stands as one of the representative men of his community. Equally 
noted as a citizen whose useful career has conferred credit upon the 
community and whose marked abilities have won for him much more 
than local repute, he holds today distinctive precedence in the mineral 
mining world. He is essentiallv a man of affairs, sound of judgment 
and far-seeing in what he undertakes, and every enterprise to which he 
has addressed himself has resulted in satisfactory returns, while at the 
same time he has won and retains the confidence and esteem of all 
classes 

Robert Forbes was born on the 18th day of April, 1860, in Scotland, 
the voungest of the seven children born to his parents. On April 18, 
1873. the thirteenth anniversary of his birth, he arrived in America, in 
company with his mother, and they went at once to Hartford, Connecti- 
cut. Two of his brothers and two of his sisters had come to this coun- 
try previously, and his father came afterwards, having at that time prac- 
tical retired from active business pursuits. They remained in Hart- 
ford. Connecticut, for six months, after which they went to New Britain, 
that state, where thev lived a year. They then moved to Canada, where 
the father owned a farm. There the son Robert lived until 1880, when 
he came to the city of Duluth, the father following him here two years 
later. 

Robert Forbes received a common school education, which he sup- 
plemented by much private study and. more particularly, by practical 
experience. At the age of sixteen years He began trading with the 
Indians on Manitoulin Island, which he carried on for about a year. In 
the meantime he had determined to adopt mining engineering as his life 
vocation, and to this end he began investigating and looking up proper- 
ties in western Ontario. He was successful, and has ever since devoted 
practically all of his time to exploring, drilling and examining mineral 
properties. Part of that time was spent on iron properties in Minnesota, 
but most of the time on copper properties in Ontario, Idaho, Washing- 
ton, British Columbia and other parts of the continent. For the past 
twenty-five years, except for a short period, he has engaged in pur- 
chasing and locating mineral lands, which he has prospected and devel- 
oped, selling for and to corporations and syndicates. In 1882-3 he was 
exploring Vermillion lands in Minnesota, and at the same time pursuing 
his studies. From 1884 to 1887 he spent the most of his time on Ontario 
properties, drilling and test pitting, principally on the silver, copper and 
nickel ranges. From 1887 to 1900 he was prospecting and examining 
properties through the Kootenai country, in the Nelson, Slocum and 
Ainsworth districts. During 1900-2 he was examining, prospecting and 
locating properties on the coast of British Columbia, principally on the 
island of Texada, and then until 1904 was prospecting and developing 
properties in Ontario. During the two following years he had charge 
of the McGowan, Wilcox and Spider Lake Mines, and in 1906-7 he 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1125 

spent the time in prospecting and developing various claims along the 
coast of British Columbia. During 1908-10 he was in charge of the 
Capsheaf Mine on the island of Texada, and since 1911 has been con- 
sulting engineer of the properties of the Norseman Exploration Com- 
pany; also since 1914 to the present time has been consulting engineer 
for the Aladdin Mine of the Minneapolis and Texada Copperite Com- 
pany. He has made a specialty of examining and reporting on copper 
sulphides, and his success in this field has been remarkable, giving him 
a reputation for accuracy and knowledge of the difficult details of this 
class of work second to no man in the country. Mr. Forbes maintains 
his offices in the Palladio Building, Duluth. 

In November, 1893, Mr. Forbes was married to Emma W. Walker, 
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Walker. She was born near 
Fort Wayne, Indiana, but from childhood lived in that city, where she 
obtained her public and high school education. To this union have been 
born four daughters. Ruth W., after completing her public and high 
school studies, spent one year in college. She possesses unusual musical 
talent, in which she has received a finished education, instrumental music 
being her forte. She is also pursuing a business course and is now taking 
a Chicago University extension course. Hazel K. Forbes is a graduate 
of the Duluth High School, and also a graduate of Wellesley College, 
where her principal courses were geology and geography. After grad- 
uating she taught one year at Wellesley College in geology and during the 
past two years has been teaching geology and geography in the Penn- 
sylvania State Normal School at Indiana, Pennsylvania. Lois L. Forbes 
is a graduate of the Duluth High School and has had two years in the 
University of Minnesota. She is now taking a special course in Spanish. 
Virginia T. Forbes is a student in the Duluth public schools. 

Politically Mr. Forbes gives his support to the Republican party, 
while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian Church. By a 
straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a 
respectable position in the business world, winning the hearty admiration 
of the people of his adopted city and earning a reputation as an enterpris- 
ing, progressive man of affairs and a broad-minded and upright citizen, 
retaining a keen interest in all things affecting the general welfare of 
the community. 

George A. Gray, president and active head of the George A. Gray 
Company, is an old and prominent Duluth business man, with an active 
experience in the city of more than thirty years. He came to Duluth 
July 5, 1888, and for the first two years was employed in the retail fur- 
nishing store of J. T. Condon. He had acquired his early education at 
Oak Grove Seminary and in a business college at Boston, Massachu- 
setts, and had been a bookkeeper for a year and a half in a retail drug 
store. Leaving the Condon store he became office manager of the Duluth 
Iron & Steel Company for a year and a half. For the next eleven 
years he was with I. Friemuth, beginning as bookkeeper and office man- 
ager. Later he took an interest in the Tallant Company, and in 1902 
organized and incorporated the George A. Gray Company, of which he 
has been president, with M. B. Gray, vice president, and H. L. Peck, sec- 
retary and treasurer. 

Mr. Gray is a member of the Commercial Club, the Duluth Boat 
Club, the Kitchi Gammi Club, Duluth Curling Club, Duluth Auto Club, 
the Modern Samaritans, the Y. M. C. A., and is a member of the Con- 
gregational Church and of the Republican party. 



1126 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

George P. Tweed for twenty years or more has been one of the promi- 
nent men directing and supporting the organized business of exploring 
and producing iron ore in the iron ranges of northern Minnesota and 
Michigan. In this connection he has also handled a general real estate 
business, and has been a resident of and identified with Duluth affairs for 
more than thirty years. 

Mr. Tweed was born at Warsaw in Goodhue County, Minnesota, 
April 19, 1871, son of Evan J. and Anna (Hulback) Tweed. His 
father, a native of Norway, came to America in 1856, when a child, was 
reared in Dane County, Wisconsin, and a few years later moved to 
Goodhue County, Minnesota, where he was in the general merchandise 
business until about 1876. Following that he was in business at Mon- 
tevideo, Minnesota, and in, 1887 came to Duluth and for many years 
was one of the city's leading merchants and only retired from commercial 
life a short time before his death, which occurred in 1916. He had all 
the qualities of a good citizen, possessed thorough business ability, was 
interested in local affairs and enjoyed the esteem and respect of a very 
large circle. 

George P. Tweed, oldest in a family of eleven children, came to 
Duluth when about sixteen years of age. He acquired a public school 
education, and while attending school and for about three months after 
finishing his education was employed as a newspaper reporter with the 
Duluth Herald and the Duluth Daily News. At the age of eighteen, after 
leaving school, he entered the real estate and loan business, and as a 
broker and handler of real estate properties he operated alone until 
about 1900. 

In that year Mr. Tweed became associated in the iron ore business with 
Mr. Coates and Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller withdrew from the organization 
in 1908, and since then Mr. Coates and Mr. Tweed have had a construc- 
tive partnership, and their efforts primarily have been devoted to explor- 
ing for iron ore. They have been interested in the exploration of prob- 
ably twenty iron mines, and out of their long experience have special 
qualifications and facilities for managing iron exploration and iron mining. 

Mr. Tweed is a member of the Kitchi Gammi Club, the Northland 
Country Club, the Commercial Club, the Gogebic Country Club of Iron- 
wood, Michigan, and votes as a Republican. In 1908 he married Miss 
Alice Lyon, daughter of George H. Lyon of Faribault, Minnesota. 
Mrs. Tweed is a woman of accomplishments both in her home and out- 
side, deeply interested in church affairs. Their family consists of one 
adopted daughter. 

Emil H. Olson. One of the conspicuous landmarks in the retail 
shopping district of Duluth is the furniture store of Enger & Olson at 
Nineteenth avenue. West, and Superior street. It is a business with 
which the people of Duluth have been familiar and patronized for many 
years, and has always illustrated the vitality of growth and expansion. 
One of the original members of the firm and continuously active in the 
business is Emil H. Olson, now vice president of the corporation. 

Mr. Olson was born in Chippewa County, Minnesota, July 30, 1881. 
His father, Ole H. Olson, who died in 1909, was a native of Vernon 
County, Wisconsin, and a pioneer of Chippewa County, Minnesota. Emil 
H. Olson, second in a family of six children, attended public schools and 
grew up on his father's farm, where he had his early experiences. At 
the age of twenty-one he left the rural district where he was living and 
with B. J. Enger bought out a small stock of furniture in Duluth. They 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1127 

started under the partnership title of Enger & Olson, and so continued 
for over sixteen years. In the fall of 1919 the firm of Enger & Olson 
was incorporated, with B. J. Enger as president, E. H. Olson, vice presi- 
dent, J. O. Bodin, secretary, and J. C. Lehvorsen, treasurer. 

Only a very small percentage of the immense patronage accorded to 
the house of Enger & Olson remember their start in business at 1722 
West Superior street. They remained in that modest establishment only 
a year and then moved to 2012 West Superior street, a location half way 
between two large furniture stores. In spite of what might have seemed 
a handicap the firm prospered and grew, and in two years had outgrown 
its quarters and rented an additional store. They remained in that loca- 
tion five years, and then rented a portion of the building where the house 
is today. In three years time came another necessity for expansion, and 
they took over the part of the building then occupied by C. B. Nunan. 
In the fall of 1919, at the time of its incorporation, the company bought 
the building outright, and since then the second floor has been remodeled 
as a furniture storeroom. The company now has more than forty times 
as much floor space as the firm had when they began business sixteen or 
seventeen years ago. The partners themselves looked after nearly every 
feature of the business at the beginning, and hired the draying and moving 
of their goods. After a year they bought a horse for delivery services 
and hired two extra men, and an illustration of how the business has 
grown in equipment is the present facilities of three large delivery trucks, 
while the staff of employes of Enger & Olson number thirty. 

Mr. Olson is a member of the English Lutheran Church and is affili- 
ated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He married Miss Marie 
H. Rood, of Duluth. 

Thomas F. Brady. A veteran member of the bar of northern Minne- 
sota, and for the past fifteen years judge of the Municipal Court of 
Hibbing, Thomas F. Brady is one of the best known men in this section 
of the state, not only in his profession and in public affairs but also as a 
follower and encourager of athletics and in social life. 

Judge Brady was born at Houghton, Michigan, March 27, 1868, and 
is son of a distinguished lawyer, Thomas M. Brady. 

His father was born in County Meath, Ireland, March 28, 1830, and 
died May 29, 1920, at the age of ninety years. Coming to the United 
States when about seventeen years of age, he lived in Massachusetts and 
worked as a laborer until he earned enough money to complete his educa- 
tion in Notre. Dame College in Indiana and later in a collegiate institution 
of Montreal, Canada. He read law and was admitted to the bar at 
Detroit, and for several years practiced at Grand Rapids, Michigan. While 
there he became interested in military matters, was elected a captain of 
Mulligan's Regiment, and served all through the Civil war, being in both 
battles of Bull Run and in many other campaigns and engagements. 
After the war he resumed practice at Detroit, but in the fall of 1866 
moved to northern Michigan, and for a quarter of a century carried on 
an extensive practice with Houghton as his headquarters. In the sum- 
mer of 1892 he moved to Duluth, in 1894 to Grand Rapids, Minnesota, 
later returned to Houghton, and in 1904 came to Hibbing, where he 
remained until 1910 and thereafter divided his time among his children. 
While in Houghton County, Michigan, he served as city attorney many 
years, as judge of Probate, as prosecuting attorney, and for two terms 
was also judge of Probate in Itasca County, Minnesota. Judge Thomas 
M. Brady married Margaret Friel, who died in Wisconsin in 1910, the 
mother of four children. 



1128 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Thomas F. Brady spent his early boyhood and manhood at Houghton, 
Michigan, graduated from high school, and in 1889 received his law 
degree from Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana. For a 
time he was associated in practice with his father in Houghton, for two 
years was located at Ontonagon, Michigan, in 1892 moved to Duluth 
with his father, and in September, 1895, came to Hibbing, where for a 
quarter of a century he has been busily engaged in satisfying the demands 
of an extensive clientage and in filling various offices in the city. Fie 
served as village attorney one year, four years as township clerk, city 
recorder three years, and since February 8, 1904, has been on the Munici- 
pal bench of Hibbing. Judge Brady is a Republican in politics, is a mem- 
ber of the Catholic Church, and is associated with many social and fra- 
ternal organizations, including the Elks, Knights of Columbus, Catholic 
Order of Foresters, Maccabees, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Red Men, 
Yeomen and others. 

September 14, 1897, he married Anna Haben. Mrs. Brady died April 
3, 1905, the mother of three children, Margaret, Thomas and Anna. 
Judge Brady married for his present wife Delia Lafave. Six children 
were born to their union : Delia, Frances, James, Patricia (now deceased), 
Rosella and .William. 

Judge Bert Fesler, a member of the Duluth bar for a quarter of 
a century, has recently rounded out a decade of service in the office of 
district judge. His associates recognize him as a lawyer of splendid 
qualifications, and as a jurist whose work and character have contributed 
much to the dignity and service of the Bench. 

He was born July 22, 1866, at Franklin. Indiana. The only surviving 
field commander of an Indiana regiment in the great battle of Gettys- 
burg is his father, Col. John R. Fesler, now nearly eighty-five years of 
age. Colonel Fesler was lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-seventh Indiana 
Volunteer Infantry at Gettysburg and served nearly three years in the 
Union army. He was a native of Ohio, was a carpenter by occupation, 
but for many years has been a successful business man. For eleven years 
he was in the commission brokerage business at the Indianapolis Stock 
Yards. He is now assistant adjutant general of the Grand Army of the 
Republic for the Department of Indiana. 

Of five children, four of whom are still living. Judge Fesler grew up 
in his father's household, was educated in the Franklin High School, and 
holds his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Indiana. He 
came to Duluth in 1893 to engage in the practice of law, and for a num- 
ber of years was a hard working lawyer, giving little attention to politics. 
He served as city attorney of Duluth from 1904 to 1910. In the latter 
year he was appointed judge of the District Court, and on April 1, 1913, 
was elected for the regular term of eight years to the District Bench, 
beginning his term in 1914. He is also a member of the Duluth City 
Charter Commission, is affiliated with the Elks and the Modern Wood- 
men of America, and on many occasions has exemplified the character 
of a disinterested and public-spirited citizen. 

On March 28, 1890, Judge Fesler married Miss Vennie L. King. They 
have four children: Ruth and Rachel, twins, John and James Williams 
Fesler. 

Herman Antonelli. A merchant of many years' active experience 
in Hibbing, a veteran of the Spanish-American war, in everv way repre- 
senting the highest ideals of American citizenship, Herman Antonelli has 
always been regarded as most influential among that portion of the citizen- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1129 

ship of the Mesaba Range of Italian birth or parentage and as a man of 
the highest character and of a record that commends him to the con- 
fidence and esteem of all classes. 

In Italy, where he was born, the family name was spelled Ermenegildo, 
but he has always borne a simpler name since coming to America. He 
was born May 26, 1864, and completed his education in a gymnasium or 
high school at Nocera Umbria, Italy. Even as a youth he realized some 
of the limitations and disadvantages of life in his native country, and it 
was as a result of an earnest determination to improve his circumstances 
and live up to the best ideals of Americanism that brought him to this 
country. He came here in 1892, and after two months in Michigan went 
to Ely on the Vermillion Range in northern Minnesota. He readily found 
employment in the ore mines. He first came to Hibbing in 1894, when 
the village had first been laid out. He worked as a carpenter and miner 
and later returned to Michigan and early in 1898 enlisted in Company E 
of the Third United States Infantry for service in the Spanish-American 
war. He was with this regiment in training at Atlanta. Georgia, and 
after peace was declared received his honorable discharge. On October 
5, 1898, occurred the Indian uprising at Walker, Minnesota. At that 
time Mr. Antonelli was a member of old Company E of the Third Regu- 
lars of the United States Army, and was called out and took part in the 
battle with the rebellious Indians. Captain Wilkinson, commanding Com- 
pany E, was killed and Mr. Antonelli himself was wounded by a bullet 
in the left thigh. Thus as a soldier he was wounded while in the per- 
formance of duty and by his military record proved his devotion to the 
land of his adoption. 

After leaving the army he worked for about two years as a miner at 
Ely, Minnesota, also operated a saloon there, and in January, 1902, 
returned to Hibbing,. where he has had his permanent residence ever 
since. Since 1904 he has been engaged in the grocery and meat market 
business. With a growing prosperity as a business man he has taken an 
interest in all that goes to make Hibbing a better community. He had 
applied for his first papers as a citizen two months after coming to this 
country, and had completed naturalization in five years. He has been a 
leader among the people of his nationality and has done much to make 
them realize the importance of thorough assimilation with American 
ideals. He was one of the organizers of the church of the Immaculate 
Conception of the Catholic faith at Hibbing. Mr. Antonelli is at present 
a member of the Hibbing Library Board and is a Republican in politics. 

January 25, 1901, he married Paulina Cappellaro. also a native of 
Italy. Their six children are Josephine, Mary, Julia. Dominic, Bruno 
and Eva. 

Peter E. Meagher, president of the Meagher-Mars Company, whole- 
sale mining, railroad and industrial machinery, has been a factor and 
instrument in Duluth's commercial life since boyhood, winning by merit 
the place he now enjoys in local business circles. 

He was born at Dublin, Ireland, November 13. 1879. son of Patrick 
S. and Mary (Connolly) Meagher. When he was two years old, in 
1881, he was brought to America by his father, who located at St. Paul 
and later came to Duluth, where for many years he was associated with 
the Duluth Shoe Company as its superintendent. He is now living retired 
in the city. 

Peter E. Meagher acquired his education in the Christian Brothers 
school at Duluth. At the age of thirteen he began earning his own liv- 
ing, his first regular employment being as messenger for the Board of 



1130 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Trade. He went into business for himself in 1904 as labor director for 
various industrial and mining companies in and tributary to Duluth. He 
has been in the machinery business since 1907. He made a specialty of 
mining, railroad and lumber supplies and built some very extensive con- 
nections in the buying and selling of mining machinery, a trade which 
now extends all over the United States. Canada and the far east. In 
1921 he and others organized the Meagher-Mars Company, with offices 
in Duluth. They are wholesale dealers in mining, railroad and industrial 
machinery, and Mr. Meagher is president of the business. 

In September, 1904, he married at Duluth Miss Mabel Confer, daugh- 
ter of Dr. Samuel C. and Mary (Holbrook) Confer. Mrs. Meagher is a 
native of Minneapolis. They have four children : Morris Edwin, attend- 
ing St. John's Military Academy; Robert Francis, Mary Louise and 
Peter E., Jr. Mr. Meagher is a member of the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, Duluth Boat Club, Commercial Club and the Kitchi 
Gammi Club. 

John M. Sheehy, agent of the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad 
at Hibbing, is one of the best known and most universally liked men 
of St. Louis County. His invariable smile and good humor, his unfail- 
ing fund of good stories make him a welcome member of any gathering 
brought together for purposes of good cheer. With these qualities he 
has others, for he has a firm and keen grasp of business, a deep insight 
into human nature and is an excellent man of affairs. 

Mr. Sheehy was born at Negaunee, Michigan, April 24, 1868, a son 
of James and Mary (Reardon) Sheehy. James Sheehy was born on a 
farm in Ireland, and. losing his father when young, he came to the 
United States. Of a frugal disposition, he saved his money, and realiz- 
ing the opportunities offered in this country, helped bring his sisters 
overseas. He was first engaged in railroad construction work in Con- 
necticut, and while there was married, his wife also being of Irish nativity. 
In the early '60s he moved to Wisconsin, and a little later went into the 
Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and there worked at mining the remainder 
of his life. He and his family belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. 

John M. Sheehy was one in a family of seven children, and was reared 
at Negaunee. Michigan, where he attended the common and high schools. 
When about fifteen years of age he was made flagman at a railroad cross- 
ing in Negaunee, and later on became fireman in a freight office. He 
also did various kinds of office work and learned to be a telegrapher, and 
coming to Virginia, Minnesota, worked as an operator and office man from 
1895 until 1900. In 1900 he was made station agent at Virginia, and 
filled that position with capable efficiency until 1903. In that year he 
came to Hibbing, and this has continued to be his place of residence ever 
since, and his talents have been used in discharging the responsibilities 
pertaining to the position of agent for the Duluth, Missabe & Northern 
Railroad. 

Mr. Sheehy is vitally interested in all things pertaining to the public 
weal, but unlike the majority of Irishmen he has had but little to do in a 
political way beyond exercising the right of suffrage at elections, and 
generally does so independent of party lines, for he prefers to vote for 
the man and measures rather than for strictly defined platforms. In his 
religious faith he is a Roman Catholic. His fraternal affiliations are those 
he maintains with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

In 1898 Mr. Sheehy was united in marriage with Miss Kate Mc Alpine, 
of Virginia, Minnesota, and they have had eight children born to them, 
namely: John, Reardon, James, Ardell, Jeanette, Patrick. Georgianna and 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1131 

Albert. The eldest of these, John Sheehy, was a student at the University 
of Chicago when this country entered the World war, and he entered the 
Officers' Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, and upon the conclusion of his 
period of training was given a second lieutenant's commission and 
assigned to instruct the students at the University of Minnesota. He 
continued in this work until the signing of the armistice, and received his 
honorable discharge in February, 1919. 

Mr. Sheehy has been accorded the place in his community to which his 
talents entitle him and his personality, general ability and working knowl- 
edge of human nature are recognized as valuable assets to his locality. 
In his position as agent he is called upon to handle some difficult prob- 
lems, and he is able to do so with tact and ability, saving his road much 
trouble because of this effectiveness. 

Range Motor Service Company. All of the elements regarded as 
essential to a successful and going commercial concern are present as 
characteristics of the Range Motor Service Company at Hibbing. The 
business was established six years ago, is a corporation dealing in auto- 
mobiles, accessories and doing a general repair service, and the men who 
established and first officered it are still actively identified as officials with 
its management. This alone speaks highly of the character of the firm, 
as well as the fact that its annual business aggregates more than two 
hundred thousand dollars in volume. 

The company was organized May 18, 1914, with an authorized capital 
of $50,000. The organizers and the first officers are the same group that 
are now responsibly connected with the company, and are : S. R. Kirby, 
president ; J. A. Redfern, vice president ; L. O. Kirby, treasurer, and H. A. 
Mann, secretary and manager. 

Mr. Henry A. Mann, the secretary and manager, had demonstrated 
the qualities of an exceptional automobile salesman before he came into 
the present organization. He was born at Royalton, Minnesota, 
March 12, 1889, son of Theron \Y. and May (Davison) Mann. His 
father, now deceased, was a railroad worker. All three children are still 
living, and when Henry A. was twelve months old his parents moved to 
Sauk Center, Minnesota, and four years later to Little Falls. Henry 
A. Mann attended his first schools at Little Falls. At the age of sixteen 
he went to the metropolitan city of Minneapolis, was employed as a clerk 
for three and a half years, and then seeking a change from commercial 
life went out to Montana and took up a homestead. After nine months 
he saw fit to give up his claim and return to Minneapolis. He then had 
his first trial as an automobile salesman, and quickly demonstrated the 
ability to do a successful business in this line. In fact, he established a 
record by selling seven Mitchell cars in one month. After that he trav- 
eled through the east selling air compressors and for a few months helped 
operate his father's farm near Sauk Center and also conducted a music 
business founded by his father in Sauk Center. Having acquitted himself 
of the duties devolving upon him as a result of his father's death, he came 
to Hibbing in 1914, and about two months later became associated with 
the men above named and helped organize the Range Motor Service 
Company, and has been its secretary and manager ever since. 

Mr. Mann is affiliated with the Episcopal Church, is a member of 
Mesaba Lodge No. 255, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Lodge of 
Perfection of the Scottish Rite at Hibbing, Kiwanis Club, Commercial 
Club, Algonquin Club and Curling Club. June 18, 1915, he married 
Miss Elizabeth Griesel, of Winona, Minnesota. They have one daughter, 
Marjorie Elizabeth. 



1132 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

John G. Pasternacki is one of the principal stockholders of the 
C. & P. Drug Company, which conducts six well equipped retail drug 
establishments in this section of Minnesota, and he has personal charge 
of the store in the city of Virginia, where he has a standing as one of the 
progressive business men and loyal and public-spirited citizens of the 
community. 

Mr. Pasternacki was born at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, on the 15th 
of June, 1883, and is a son of Frank and Eva (Kubsiack) Pasternacki, 
both natives of German Poland. Frank Pasternacki was born in the city 
of Posen, where he was reared and educated, and he was a youth when 
in the '50s he immigrated to the United States. He had learned in his 
native land the trade of harnessmaker, and to this he was giving his 
attention in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, at the inception of the Civil war. 
He promptly gave evidence of his fervent loyalty to the land of his adop- 
tion by tendering his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted as a 
private in an Ohio regiment of volunteer infantry, and with this command 
served during virtually the entire period of the war, in which he took part 
in many engagements and lived up to the full tension of the great conflict. 
He was several times wounded, but not seriously, and he made a record 
as a gallant soldier of the Union. After the war he finally established his 
residence at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and there he was long established 
in the general merchandise business as a leading merchant and honored 
and influential citizen. He served as a member of the City Council and 
was otherwise prominent in community affairs. He was a Republican in 
politics, was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and was a 
zealous communicant of the Catholic Church, as is also his widow, who 
still resides at Stevens Point, where his death occurred in 1902. They 
became the parents of four sons and four daughters. One of the sons, 
Frank, Jr., lost his life while serving as a soldier in the Spanish-American 
war. Another son, Dr. Leon P., a dentist, was a first lieutenant in the 
United States Army during the nation's participation in the World war. 
He became mayor of Stevens Point when onlv twenty-seven vears of age, 
and at the same time was a member of the Republican State Central Com- 
mittee of Wisconsin. Mary, one of the four daughters, is the wife of 
A. S. Nalborski, and four of their sons were in the nation's service in the 
World war. 

John G. Pasternacki was afforded the advantages of the public schools 
of his native city, where he was graduated in the high school as a member 
of the class of 1903. He then entered the school of pharmacy of the great 
University of Wisconsin, and in this institution was graduated in 1905, 
with the degree of Graduate in Pharmacy. Soon afterward he came to 
St. Louis County, Minnesota, and became manager of a drug store at 
Eveleth. In 1907 he became a traveling salesman for a leading wholesale 
drug house in the city of Cincinnati, and he represented this house in 
northern Minnesota and North and South Dakota until 1908, in which 
year he became a clerk in the drug store of Hayes & Casey at Chisholm, 
St. Louis County, Minnesota. In 1910 he formed a partnership with 
E. I. Casey, one of his former employers, and came to Virginia, where he 
opened the drug store of which he is now the active manager, the business 
being incorporated under the title of the C. & P. Drug Company, and 
involving the conducting of five other retail drug stores, as previously 
noted in this context. 

Mr. Pasternacki is vitally interested in all things pertaining to the 
welfare and progress of his home city, is a Republican in politics, and both 
he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic Church. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1133 

On the 12th of January, 1914, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Pasternacki to Miss Isabel Murphy, daughter of James Murphy, of 
Virginia, and they have two children — James F. and Eva Ann. 

Thomas C. Congdon. Hand in hand in public usefulness is the drug- 
gist associated with the physician, and this mutual dependence is univer- 
sally acknowledged as a condition of public safety. Healing remedies are 
older than doctors, and as far back as one may delve in ancient lore he 
may find mention of medicaments for some of the ills that seem to have 
always afflicted the human race. At times the discovery of a new drug 
of surprising properties, cinchona, for example, has wrought wonderful 
changes and has been a factor in advancing civilization. Out of the hands 
of ignorant and superstitious persons the lawful administration of drugs 
has long since passed, and the term druggist or pharmacist now means 
one who, after a protracted period of study and experiment covering a 
number of years and various sciences, has passed a thorough and satis- 
factory examination before a learned and authorized body of his profes- 
sion. In his hands there is practically placed life and death, for it is his 
knowledge of drugs and their effects that must guide him in handling 
the most careful of physician's prescriptions. Thus it is no unimportant 
position that a druggist holds in a community, and his personal standing is 
usually of the highest. One of these representative men of St. Louis 
County is Thomas C. Congdon of Hibbing. 

Thomas C. Congdon was born at Watertown, New York, March 12, 
1864, a son of Thomas C. and Ellen (Donovan) Congdon, both of whom 
were natives of Ireland. They were reared and married in their birth- 
place, but they immigrated to the United States in the early '50s. The 
family settled in the state of New York, where the father engaged in 
farming, but about 1869 removal was made to Minnesota, and he made a 
home in Goodhue County. He is now deceased, but the mother survives 
and lives at Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were the parents of seven 
children, of whom Thomas C. was the fourth in order of birth. 

The earliest recollections of Thomas C. Congdon center about the farm 
in Goodhue County, Minnesota, where he spent his youthful davs, and at 
Red Wing. In his early youth he attended the country schools at Red 
Wing, but when he was onlv thirteen vears old he entered the employ 
of the pioneer drug firm of Hawley & Kellogg as a bottle washer. Later 
on he worked in different departments and attended the schools. For 
some time he was also employed in different capacities on the Red Wing 
"Advance," but moved to Minneapolis about 1881, and there he attended 
school and also worked in the drug business with Crossman & Plummer 
on what is now Marquette avenue, then known as Bridge Square. It was 
with this firm that he received the fuller initiation in the drug business, 
and decided to adopt it as his life work. In order to better equio himself 
in his chosen occupation he attended for two years the Chicago College of 
Pharmacy. Returning then to Minnesota, he satisfactorily passed the 
examination of the Minnesota State Board of Pharmacy, and for the 
ensuing ten years was at Phillipsburg, Montana, where he owned and 
published the Phillipsburg "Mail." Going back to Minneapolis, he was 
employed as a clerk for William Donaldson & Company for about three 
years, and then, in 1902, came to Hibbing and established his present drug 
business in the same store he still occupies. At that time there was no 
sidewalk in front of his place, and Pine street was the main thoroughfare 
of the village. He has witnessed the changes which have transformed 
an insignificant village into what is claimed to be the richest small citv in 
the world. Mr. Congdon has taken an intelligent part in effecting these 



1134 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

changes, and for three years was a member of the Library Board, serving 
during the period in which the present Library Building was erected. He 
is a thirty-second degree Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Mason and 
is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Commercial 
and Kiwanis Clubs. The Methodist Episcopal Church has in him a con- 
scientious member and generous supporter. 

Mr. Congdon was married September 12, 1894, to Miss Jennie D. 
Leavitt, of Pine Island, Minnesota, and they have had five children, 
namely: Charles B., Ora Irene, Alice B., Thomas C, Jr. (deceased), and 
Jennie Marian. Charles B. Congdon is a veteran of the great war, having 
served in the Marine branch, and spent nearly a year in France doing 
clerical work in the office of his commanding officer. 

Rufus H. Redman for thirty years has been actively associated with 
the wholesale grocery business in Duluth, and is treasurer of Duluth's 
premier wholesale grocery house, the Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company. 

He was born at Saginaw, Michigan, December 8, 1867, a son of 
Michael and Jane (Hamilton) Redman. His father was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, spent his active career as a merchant, and died in 1898. The 
youngest of the family, Rufus H. Redman finished his education in the 
high school at Saginaw, and his first work was as a reporter on the Sagi- 
naw Herald and subsequently on the Saginaw Evening News. While in 
that work he developed a high degree of skill as a shorthand writer, and 
when in the spring of 1887 he came to Duluth he was employed for a year 
as a stenographer by the legal firm of Boggs & McDonald. 

Leaving the law office he became a stenographer in the Wells-Stone 
Mercantile Company, a wholesale and jobbing organization handling both 
groceries and hardware, one branch of which subsequently became a part 
of the great Marshall- Wells Company. Mr. Redman remained with this 
concern for nine years, when the business was sold, and then with other 
fellow employes he helped establish the Wright-Clarkson Mercantile 
Company, the chief foundation of the present Gowan-Lenning-Brown 
Company. The active head of this company was W. S. Brown, who was 
president of the largest wholesale hardware concern in Iowa, and became 
president of the Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company upon its organization. 
On December 31, 1912, the Wright-Clarkson Mercantile Companv and the 
Gowan-Peyton-Congdon Company were consolidated, at which time Mr. 
Redman was elected treasurer of the Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company, 
having previously been a stockholder and official of the Wright-Clarkson 
Mercantile Company. Mr. Redman has been one of the active officials 
who have enormously increased the business and prestige of the Gowan- 
Lenning-Brown Company until its business extends over practically all 
the great northwest country. 

Mr. Redman is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, is a Repub- 
lican and is a member of the K. K. Club, the Northland Country Club 
and the Commercial Club. On June 21, 1907, he married Miss Florence 
Metcalf, of St. Paul. 

William E. Fay, of Tower, is manager of the Vermillion Boat and 
Outing Company. An organization that took care of 20,000 tourists dur- 
ing the season of 1920 is obviously one of great importance, and its suc- 
cessful management reflects additional prosperity over a large region. 

This company owns the Hotel Idlewild on the Isle of Pines in Lake 
Vermillion, located by water about eight miles from Tower. The companv 
owns a large equipment of launches and other boats, have a large hotel, 
many cottages, and provides a complete organization and equipment to 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1135 

insure every reasonable comfort for its guests and provide them with all 
the opportunities for delightful recreation. 

Mr. Fay has been one of the leading citizens of Tower for many years, 
having been a resident of that section of northern Minnesota since 1891. 
He was born at Port Huron, Michigan, June 28, 1872, son of William E. 
and Catherine (Leich) Fay. His mother was born in Scotland and died 
in 1907, at the age of sixty-four. His father was born in Michigan and is 
still living at Port Huron, at the age of eighty-three. Most of his active 
life was spent as a farmer and as a dealer in agricultural implements. He 
is a Democrat and a member of the Methodist Church. 

William E. Fay was the fifth in a family of three sons and six daugh- 
ters. He attended school at Port Huron until he was sixteen, and then 
sought the vigorous outdoor occupation furnished by the pine woods of 
northern Michigan. His work took him to Marquette, to Duluth, and in 
1891 to Tower. As a boy he took up steam engineering and later com- 
pleted a course in the International Correspondence School at Scranton 
in electricity, and has been a proficient member of the electrical trades for 
many years. He was one of the organizers of the Vermillion Boat and 
Outing Company, and the summer months find him perhaps the busiest 
and most responsible man around Vermillion Lake. 

Mr. Fay has been an official of the town of Tower since 1900. He is 
independent in politics. In 1919 he married Miss Mary Murphy, daugh- 
ter of J. D. Murphy, of Tower. 

Harry S. Sherman. The largest single mine in the greatest iron ore 
district owned and operated by the greatest iron ore mining organization 
in the world is the Hull-Rust Mine in the Hibbing District. The super- 
intendent of this mine is Harry S. Sherman, who is likewise superin- 
tendent of the Kerr and Sweeney Mines, all included in the properties 
of the Oliver Company. Mr. Sherman is an expert in all the technical 
details of mine operation, and has been identified with the Minnesota Iron 
Ranges over fifteen years. 

He was born at Crown Point, Essex County, New York, April 1, 
1877, son of Z. C. and Elizabeth (Benson) Sherman. All their six chil- 
dren are still living. Up to the age of about fifteen he lived in his native 
state, where he attended public school. The family then moved to 
Chicago, where his father was employed by the Illinois Steel Company. 
While at Chicago Harry S. Sherman completed his education in Lake 
Forest University, graduating in 1902. In the meantime during vacations 
he was employed in the chemical laboratories of the Illinois Steel Com- 
pany and also in the laboratory of the Minnesota Iron Company at Two 
Harbors, Minnesota. 

Following his college career he spent about a year in the west in the 
chemical laboratories of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company at Pueblo 
and for a time was at Anniston, Alabama, with the Southern Car Foundry 
Company and with the Pennsylvania Malleable Iron Company at 
Pittsburgh. 

On coming to the Range country of northern Minnesota in 1905 Mr. 
Sherman became chief chemist of the Eveleth District with headquarters 
at Eveleth, and has been one of the technical men with the Oliver Com- 
pany ever since. He lived for about ten years at Eveleth, for about a year 
was superintendent of the Hartley Mine at Chisholm, though he kept his 
home at Eveleth, then was superintendent of the Genoa and Gilbert Mines 
at Eveleth, for a short time was superintendent of various mines at 
Buhl, and in 1918 moved to Hibbing and has since been carrying the 
responsibilities of superintendent of the Hull-Rust, Kerr and Sweeney 
Mines. 



1136 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Sherman, while very completely absorbed in his regular work and 
business, has not neglected the interests of the various communities where 
he has lived, served as a member of the School Board of Eveleth and at 
Gilbert for some ten years, and has been associated with various organiza- 
tions of citizens in these localities. He joined the Masons at Eveleth, has 
attained the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite and is a member of the 
Mystic Shrine, and belongs to the Algonquin Club at Hibbing. In 1905 he 
married Miss Ida Schneider, who was a teacher in the Eveleth schools. 
They have three children : a daughter, Harriet H., and twin sons, Robert 
and Richard. 

Charles Foster. If accomplishment stands for success then Charles 
Foster has achieved that objective point without any manner of doubt. 
He does not reside in St. Louus County except in an honorary sense, and 
yet he has made an indelible impression upon its life which will last for 
generations to come. Few cities of ten times the number of inhabitants 
of Hibbing can boast of the improvements it possesses. Fortunately the 
village has been wise in its selection of officials, and not least among 
them is Charles Foster, general superintendent of the water and light 
department of Hibbing. 

Charles Foster was born near Dwight in Grundy County, Illinois, 
October 14, 1875, a son of Archibald and Mary (Burns) Foster, and 
grandson of a Foster who came from Ireland to the United States at 
an early day. Archibald Foster was a farmer. When the war between 
the north and the south was declared he was too young to be accepted 
for military duty according to his parents' ideas, so the venturesome lad 
ran away from home, enlisted and served for a year in the Union army. 
He still survives and lives at Burt, Iowa. 

One of three sons, all still living, Charles Foster was twelve years 
old when his parents moved to Iowa, and he was brought up in that state. 
He completed his collegiate training with a three-years' course at the 
Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa, which is now the Iowa 
State College. Following his graduation he entered the employ of the 
city of Ames as a member of its light department, first working at con- 
struction, and later becoming an engineer. Subsequently Mr. Foster 
went to Algona. Iowa, and designed the electric light plant, the first the 
city possessed, in connection with the water plant, and after its installa- 
tion was completed he operated it until January, 1900. His services 
were then secured by the city of Sheldon. Iowa, and he remained in 
charge of its electric light plant for about nine months.' when he went to 
Bismarck. North Dakota, and was there for about two and one-half 
years, during that period rebuilding the electric light plant and doubling 
its capacity. Mr. Foster then entered the employ of the state of North 
Dakota and designed and built a light, heat and power plant for the 
capitol building and the electric street railway from the city to the 
capitol building. In 1904 he went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and for ten 
years was constructing engineer for a construction concern of that city. 
Following the expiration of that period he was consulting engineer with 
the Charles L. Pillsbury Company, during which time he had charge of 
the St. Paul office and complete charge of the engineering work of the 
State Board of Control. In April. 1918. he. came to Hibbing as general 
superintendent of the water and light department, and under his super- 
vision the new light and power plant was constructed at a cost of 
$1,000,000. 

Charles Foster was married to Bessie Wrightman. Both he and his 
wife belong to the Presbyterian Church. He is a thirty-second degree 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1137 

Ancient x\ccepted Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic 
Shrine. He also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, 
the United Commercial Travelers, American Society of Mechanical Engi- 
neers, Engineers' Club of Northern Minnesota, Duluth Engineers' Club, 
American Water Works Association, Hibbing Kiwanis Club and the 
Hibbing Commercial Club. 

I 
William N. Rowe. More than a third of a century's service with the 
iron mining companies comprised in the great organization of the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company is a record shared by few of William N. Rowe's 
associates. Many years of this employment have constituted a record of 
consecutive advancement and increased responsibility, and for the past 
fifteen years Mr. Rowe has been master mechanic of the Hibbing Dis- 
trict for the Oliver Company. 

He was born in Cornwall, England, January 5, 1872, a son of Nicholas 
and Mary (Nichols) Rowe. When he was six years of age he was left 
motherless and was thirteen when his father died, and after that had 
no advantage in schools and for a time went to work to support himself 
as a boy helper in a Cornish tin mine. A married sister living at Tower 
or Soudan in northern Minnesota was the influence and means of his 
coming to the Iron Range district in 1886, and in this locality he has lived 
and had his mature experiences. For a few months he attended school 
at Tower, and during the winter of 1886-87 carried tools into the black- 
smith shop of the Minnesota Iron Company. Then followed successive 
employment as a water carrier, helper on a diamond drill, pushing cars 
or "tramming" on trestle work, again carrying tools, cutting wood for 
a boiler, firing a boiler, and looking after an engine in the machine shop. 
These were mere "jobs," means of earning a living, with no connection 
between them in the way of consecutive advancement. Realizing this and 
determining to put an end to his drifting career he entered the machine 
shop to serve an apprenticeship, and steadily worked at his trade until 
June, 1899, when he was given the mark of proficiency as master 
mechanic of the Elba Mine. He remained in that mine until December, 
1902. was then sent to Eveleth as master mechanic of the Adams and 
Spruce Mines, and in June, 1905, was moved to Hibbing as master 
mechanic of the Hibbing District for the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 
The Oliver Iron Mining Company is the largest organization of its kind 
in the world, and not only employs an enormous number of workers but 
has an even greater proportion of mechanical equipment for doing the 
work of ore mining. It is the responsibility of keeping this mechanical 
equipment in repair and constant readiness for its functions that devolves 
upon Mr. Rowe as master mechanic of the Hibbing District. The effi- 
ciency of his department is absolutely vital to the work of all depart- 
ments of the organization in the district, and his long retention in the 
position is of itself all the evidence needed as to his ability and worth to 
the company. 

Mr. Rowe, whose home has been at Hibbing since 1905, is a Knight 
Templar and Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. He married, October 
30. 1899, Miss Minnie Blight, of Tower. Minnesota. Their three chil- 
dren are Richard Lawrence, Minnie Lois and Mary Elizabeth. 

Thomas J. Rowe, a brother of William N. Rowe, the master 
mechanic of the Oliver Iron Mining Company at Hibbing, is also a 
young citizen of St. Louis County who has made a mark in the world. 

He was born in Cornwall, England. July 27, 1876, was left an 
orphan, and in 1886 came to the United States and grew up at Tower, 



1138 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Minnesota, in the home of a married sister. He had school advantages 
at Tower only a short time, and there learned the printer's trade, his 
first wages being a dollar a week and later advanced to six dollars a 
week. For a time he worked on a Catholic paper at seventeen dollars 
a week, was employed on the Duluth Herald, also went to Springfield. 
Ohio, and subsequently through the influence of Congressman Paige 
Morris of Duluth was given a position in the Government printing 
office at Washington. While there he rose to a foremanship, but 
resigned when the World war began, enlisted and became a lieutenant 
in aviation, though all his service was in this country. His wife is 
deceased. 

Edmund S. Tillinghast. A mining engineer whose experience 
covers a large share of the great west. Edmund S. Tillinghast for the 
past fifteen years has been identified with the Iron Ranges of northern 
Minnesota, and is superintendent of the Leetonia Mine of the Leetonia 
Mining Company and the South Agnew Mine of the Inter-State Iron 
Company, with headquarters at Hibbing. 

Mr. Tillinghast was born at East Hampton. New York, September 
3, 1879, a son of Henry and Eliza (Edwards) Tillinghast. His father 
spent his active life as a farmer on Long Island. New York, and the 
widowed mother is still living there. During his youth on Long Island 
Edmund S. Tillinghast acquired a good education, graduating from the 
high school at East Hampton in 1895. and in 1896 graduated from the 
high school of South Hampton, New York. He entered Lafayette Col- 
lege at Easton. Pennsylvania, pursued the technical and mining engi- 
neering course, and was graduated as mining engineer in 1900. In the 
same year he entered the service of the Oliver Iron Mining Company as 
engineer and chemist at Ironwood and Bessemer, and was in those locali- 
ties three years. The following two years he was similarly employed by 
the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company in New Mexico and Wyoming, and 
in 1905 came to Hibbing and since then has been superintendent of the 
Leetonia Mine. He was given the additional duties of superintendent 
of the South Agnew Mine in 1918. 

Mr. Tillinghast is an independent Republican voter, is a Presbyterian, 
and has attained the fourteenth degree of Scottish Rite Masonry. 
December 29, 1903, he married Miss Rose Perkins, of Norway, Michi- 
gan. They are the parents of four children: Jean. John P.. Mary and 
Harry S. 

i 

Clarence A. Remington is a veteran business man of Hibbing, 
has been selling lumber there for over twenty years, and is proprietor 
of a large wholesale and retail lumber establishment. 

Mr. Remington was born in Jefferson County, New York, May 28, 
1859; son of Daniel J. and Margaret M. (Young) Remington. His 
father was both a lawyer and a farm owner. Reared and educated in 
his native county, where he attended public schools and later had the 
advantages of a business college, Clarence A. Remington found his 
chief enthusiasm as a youth in railroading and mechanical lines. He 
was particularly interested in steam engineering, and he utilized his 
opportunities and directed his studies to marine engineering and before 
he was twenty years of age held a Government license as a marine engi- 
neer on the Great Lakes. Later he went to Manistee, Michigan, where 
for a short time he was in the lumber business, was employed in the 
lumber mills as an engineer at Minneapolis for five years, built and 
operated a sawmill at Wacoma. Minnesota, also operated a mill at 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1139 

St. Ann, and in November, 1899, came to Hibbing, then a village of 
practically one street and with about twenty-five hundred population. 
He has lived here ever since, has seen the community grow and expand, 
and has kept his own business affairs prospering accordingly. For a 
time he had his office where the Oliver Hotel stands. For five years 
he served as president of the Security State Bank, and has had various 
other interests to identify him with the community. 

Mr. Remington has an exceptionally fine family. He married in- 1887 
Elnor Kohler. Their children are Winfield A., Clarissa, now deceased, 
Raymond D., Margaret, Dorothy and Katharine. The son Raymond 
was in the World war and spent eighteen months in France. 

Frank J. Baranowski is a young business man who for several 
years past has helped stimulate and build up some of the diversified 
industrial affairs of Duluth. 

Mr. Baranowski was born at Berlin, Wisconsin, December 13, 1883. 
His father, John J. Baranowski, is a native of Poland, came to this 
country about fifty-three years ago, and after living in New York city 
some five years established his home at Berlin, Wisconsin, and he is 
still living, at the age of seventy-seven, at Oshkosh. Wisconsin. All of 
his nine children are also living, Frank J. being the fourth in age. 

Frank J. Baranowski acquired a public school education at Oshkosh, 
Wisconsin, and at the age of sixteen became a workman and apprentice 
in the Ornamental Art Glass Company of Oshkosh. He remained with 
that firm for five years, and then used his experience and modest capital 
to establish a business of his own in the same line at Oshkosh. He was 
there only a short time, and in 1915 came to Duluth and established 
the Duluth Oshkosh Company in the West End. He made this a busi- 
ness of gratifying proportions and continued it from January 1, 1915. 
until June, 1918. At that time he was instrumental in organizing the 
Twin Ports Brass Foundry and Machine Company. The company was 
organized in 1917, and Mr. Baranowski has been president with John 
Scanlan as secretary and treasurer. This is one of the new and thriv- 
ing industries at the Head of the Lakes, and performs all the service of 
brass founders and manufacturers of brass, aluminum, bronze and white 
metal castings. Their output has an extensive sale and distribution all 
over Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. Mr. Baranowski was 
married in 1915 and has one of the comfortable homes of Duluth. 

Alfred Hoel. No profound analysis is required in discerning the 
results that have been achieved by Mr. Hoel in connection with banking 
enterprise, for in this important field he has made his ability and efforts 
count to good effect, with the result that he is now president of the 
First National Bank of Gilbert, this being one of the substantial and 
effectively managed banking institutions of St. Louis County. His 
younger brother, Charles B., is president of the Miners National Bank 
at Eveleth, this county, and of him individual mention is made on other 
pages of this volume. 

Alfred Hoel was born at Rushford, Fillmore County, Minnesota, on 
the 21st of December, 1879, and is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer 
families of this commonwealth. His father, Edward P. Hoel, is now 
one of the substantial citizens of Polk County, and has been long and 
successfully associated with farm industry in Minnesota. His father, 
Peter P. Hoel, was a native of Norway and an honored pioneer farmer 
of Minnesota. Edward P. Hoel and his wife, whose family name was 
Sanderson, still reside in Polk County. 

Vol. Ill — 14 



1140 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Alfred Hoel was an infant at the time when his parents removed to 
a pioneer farm near Stephen. Marshall County, where he was reared 
to the age of twelve years. Thereafter he resided and attended the 
public schools at Stephen until he had attained to the age of sixteen 
years, his higher educational discipline having been acquired in the 
Park Region Luther College at Fergus Falls, in the commercial depart- 
ment of which institution he was graduated in the spring of 1900. 
Thereafter he served about eighteen months as deputy sheriff of Polk 
County, and in 1904 established his residence at Eveleth, St. Louis 
County, his father having here become associated in mercantile business. 
He remained only a short period at Eveleth, and in the latter part of 
the year 1904 became associated with the Citizens Bank at Mcintosh, 
Polk County. He continued his connection with this institution until 
April, 1908. and in the meanwhile held the position of assistant cashier. 
In the spring of 1908 Mr. Hoel became assistant cashier of the Farmers 
Bank at Munich. North Dakota, where he remained until the following 
September. He then became cashier of the newly organized Farmers 
Bank of McKenzie County, that state, at Charlson, and he continued 
his residence in North Dakota until January, 1912, when he disposed of 
his interests in that commonwealth and returned to Minnesota. It was 
at this juncture in his career that he assumed the post of cashier of the 
First National Bank of Gilbert, an institution to whose development and 
upbuilding he has contributed in large and worthy measure. In July, 
1913. he was elected vice president of the bank, and in the latter part 
of that year removed to Biwabik, St. Louis County, and became vice 
president of the First National Bank of that village. He continued as 
vice president of the First National Bank of Gilbert and also as vice 
president of the State Bank of Aurora, being the virtual manager of all 
three banking institutions until January. 1916, when he disposed of his 
interests in the Biwabik and Aurora banks and returned to Gilbert, 
where he was elected president of the First National Bank, a position 
in which he has since continued his vigorous and effective administration. 

Mr. Hoel is aligned staunchly in the ranks of the Republican party, 
and he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic Church. He is 
an active member of the St. Louis County Club, was a charter member 
of the lodge of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Williston, 
North Dakota, and in this fraternity is now affiliated with the lodge at 
Eveleth. He is a member of Virginia Council. Knights of Columbus, at 
Virginia, this county, and is affiliated also with the Modern Woodmen 
of America. 

On the 12th of September, 1912, was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Hoel to Miss Elizabeth Marie Munn, of Crookston, this state, and 
they have three sons, Raymond Girard and Ronald William, twins, and 
Robert Alfred. 

Arthur L. Egge. Efficiency is the keynote of success along every 
line. It is the symbol, the co-related sign and working feature of every 
age and of all peoples. Without it civilization today would have never 
have passed beyond the stage of the cave man. None of the learned 
professions would have been developed from the first faint beginnings 
of people striving for mental advancement, nor would the air, the earth, 
the water, and even the sky above them all be bound together to produce 
power and place for each generation. Half-way methods cannot succeed 
in anything. To raise anything beyond the low level of mediocracy 
requires skilled and carefully trained knowledge and the power to use 
it to the highest degree. In nothing is this truer than in the vast and 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1141 

intricate system by means of which the banking establishments of the 1 
world conduct their multiform transactions. In them as nowhere else 
has efficiency been raised to the highest power, and its officials demon- 
strate in every act of their everyday life how important is this one 
characteristic. One of the men who is recognized as a living epitome 
to efficiency, not only in his business life, but in his private and civic 
connections as well, is Arthur L. Egge, cashier of the Merchants and 
Miners State Bank of Hibbing. 

Arthur L. Egge was born at Alpena, Michigan, September 1, 1884. 
When he was four years old he was taken by his father, Hans Egge, 
to Washburn, Wisconsin, where he was reared and primarily educated. 
Later he attended business college at Ashland, Wisconsin, and since he 
was sixteen years old he has been self-supporting. Until September, 
1905, Mr. Egge was engaged in an insurance business at Washburn, 
Wisconsin, but he then came to Hibbing, through the influence of L. G. 
Sicard, to take charge of the insurance business of the Merchants and 
Miners State Bank. He has served in every department of the bank, 
and in 1914 was made its cashier, which responsible position he still 
holds. 

On October 5, 1912, Mr. Egge was united in marriage with Leila 
M. Torrance, of St. Paul, Minnesota, who was born in Canada. 
Mr. Egge belongs to the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and 
the Kiwanis Club. For several years he has been on the Library Board, 
and is making a good record for himself in that capacity. In every 
respect he measures up to high standards and is recognized as a worth- 
while citizen and sound and dependable banker of unusual capabilities 
for his business. 

Charles E. S. McIllhargey is chief of the Hibbing fire depart- 
ment. Hibbing is one of the most modern of small communities in 
Minnesota, if not in the country, and naturally has a fire department 
which compares favorably with any other in a place much larger than 
it, and the chief of the department, Charles E. S. McIllhargey, from 
years of experience has become efficient. 

Charles E. S. McIllhargey was born at Port Crescent, Huron County, 
Michigan. March 21, 1872. one of nine children, seven of whom are still 
living, who were born to the marriage of Charles E. S. McIllhargey and 
Mary Young, natives of Ireland. They were married in Canada, where 
they were reared from early childhood. The elder McIllhargey when 
nearly twenty came to Michigan and engaged in lumbering, but after- 
ward moved to Duluth, Minnesota, where -from 1884 until his death in 
1906 he was a land broker. His widow survived him until 1912, when 
she. too, passed away. 

The younger Charles E. S. McIllhargey lived with his parents until 
he reached manhood, during which time he obtained his early educational 
training in the public schools. He was engaged in various occupations, 
spending many winters in the woods with his father, working on the 
docks in summertime, trimming grain and hauling railroad iron, firing 
a stationary engine, in fact, performing whatever honest tasks came to 
hand. In November, 1888, he joined the fire department of Duluth, and 
continued with it until the fall of 1905, a period of seventeen years, 
during which time he served as captain of three different houses for 
thirteen years, having worked up to this position through the different 
grades. Previous to 1905 he was twice elected chief of the fire depart- 
ment of Virginia, Minnesota, but he refused to quality for the position 
for reasons justifiable to himself. By appointment from Frank Ansley, 



1142 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

then president of the village of Hibbing, he was induced to become fire 
chief of the Hibbing department in 1909, a position he has since filled. 
Between 1906 and 1909 he and a brother traveled through the north- 
western states and western Canada, and stripped three quarter sections 
of timber land in eastern Washington. He also spent a couple of years 
diamond drilling on the Vermillion and Mesaba Ranges in northern Minne- 
sota and in Wisconsin, so that he is a man of wide experience and varied 
knowledge. Mr. Mclllhargey is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, the Commercial Club and the Kiwanis Club. 
He is a Democrat, but he frequently casts his vote for the man rather 
than for party platforms. 

On August 2, 1902, Mr. Mclllhargey was united in marriage at 
Duluth, Minnesota, with Mary McBride, of that city. He has a remark- 
ably fine record as a fireman that is without a spot or blemish, and his 
fellow citizens speak of him in highly eulogistic terms, as does the chief 
of the Duluth fire department. A man of the highest type of American 
manhood, he stands as an example to the rising generation of a public 
official who has always lived up to the obligations of his position and dis- 
played courage of a rare order. 

Walter M. Webb, superintendent of the mines of the Gilbert District 
for the Republic Iron & Steel Company, has been on the Mesaba Range 
since 1906, and is a thoroughly competent and widely experienced prac- 
tical miner. 

He comes from a family of miners. He was born at British Hollow, 
Wisconsin, October 7, 1876, son of William and Martha (Nichols) Webb. 
His grandfathers were miners, his maternal grandfather having had 
charge of a mine in Wales, while his paternal grandfather came to the 
United States from England and was engaged in lead mining in south- 
western Wisconsin, having in England been a tin miner. William Webb, 
father of Walter M. Webb, at one time was a miner in Montana, and 
subsequently for many years engaged in merchandising at Lancaster, 
Wisconsin. 

Walter M. Webb grew up at Lancaster, graduated from the high 
school in 1894, and this was followed by an experience of seven years 
as an employe of the local post-office and as clerk in a store. For about 
a year he was connected with the United States Land Office at Devil's 
Lake, North Dakota. 

Mr. Webb came to the Mesaba Range in 1906, and at Nashwauk 
became clerk in the office of the Pittsburgh Iron Ore Company. He 
filled a similar position for the same company at Sparta, and in 1910 
entered the service of the Republic Iron & Steel Company as surface 
foreman in the Pettit, Schley and Marista Mines at Gilbert. About a 
year later he was made an underground foreman, and after two years 
was promoted to mining captain of the Pettit Mine. He was safety 
engineer about three years, and since then has been superintendent of all 
the mines in the Gilbert District operated by the Republic Iron & Steel 
Company. 

Outside of his business Mr. Webb has found interests of a civic 
nature, and for several years has been a member of the School Board of 
Independent School District No. 18 and at the present time is chairman 
of the board. During the World war he was energetic in helping promote 
the aims of the Government. He is a Republican in politics and a member 
of the Masonic fraternity and the Gilbert Commercial Club. On March 
31, 1903, he married Delphia Oswald, of Lancaster, Wisconsin. Their 
two children are Louise and Walter. 



FN OX 

A PON 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1143 

John P. Murphy, who is recorder of the village of Hibbing, came to 
this mining center of northern Minnesota in 1903, after an experience 
that had taken him around the world, and is one of Hibbing's livest 
and most public spirited citizens. 

He was born in County Cork, Ireland, November 23, 1868, a son of 
Jervois and Johanna (Thau) Murphy. His mother was born in Germany 
and is still living in Ireland, where the father died. 

John P. Murphy acquired a liberal education in the schools of his 
native land, and at the age of twenty went to Australia to join an 
uncle in that country. He found apportunities and accepted them largely 
in clerical lines in Australia until early in 1902, when he sailed for the 
United States. Reaching the Pacific Coast, he was in the service of the 
Standard Oil Company of California for one year. Then, after going 
back for a short visit to Ireland, he returned to the United States and 
through the influence of friends came to Hibbing. For a number of 
years Mr. Murphy resumed clerical work at Hibbing, but in 1915 was 
appointed village accountant and in 1917 village recorder, the office he 
has filled with admirable efficiency for the past three years. 

Mr. Murphy is a Democrat and has always worked for his friends 
in politics. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, belongs to the 
Kiwanis Club, and is a past exalted ruler of Hibbing Lodge of Elks. 
In 1912 he married Miss Ethel Robinson, of Canton, New York. Their 
four children are Marjorie, John P., Jr., Mary and Richard. 

Duluth Iron & Metal Company. During a period of nearly a 
quarter of a century the Duluth Iron & Metal Company has maintained 
its integrity as one of the thriving and strictly substantial business indus- 
tries of this city. Founded in 1887 upon a policy of sound principles, 
it has grown and developed in scope, prosperity and usefulness, and 
today occupies a recognized position among the necessary industrial 
adjuncts of the city. 

The founder of this business was Max Zalk, who in 1887 recognized 
the opportunity for the establishment of an enterprise for the handling 
of scrap iron. Gradually the business grew and developed, and during 
the early '90s H. Y. Josephs was admitted to the partnership. In 1904 
Louis Zalk, son of Max Zalk, became a member of the firm. The business 
has continued to grow steadily and has lived through several alarming 
financial crises, including that of 1893, maintaining its honorable name 
and at all times discharging its responsibilities. From a business devoted 
purely for the handling of scrap iron, it has developed into an enterprise 
which takes in almost every class of steel products both new and second- 
hand, and serves a territory as far west as Washington and Oregon. 
It makes a specialty of buying complete railroads that are through 
serving their territory and distributing their equipment all over the 
country. During the war the company was a valuable feeder for the 
Minnesota Steel Company, and helped materially in swelling the output 
of the munition steel of that plant. 

Clarence E. Moore, who has practically spent all of his active life 
engaged at some branch of mining and now general superintendent of the 
Pitt Iron Mining Company at Virginia, operating the Miller Mine at 
Aurora and the Wacootah Mine at Mountain Iron, came to the Mesaba 
Range in the spring of 1894, bringing with him the first vulcan shovel on 
the range and probably the first to be used in Minnesota. He was in the 
early stages of his mining career connected with Lake Superior Iron 
Mines, Consolidated, owned by the Rockefeller interests, engaged as 



1144 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

steam shovel engineer. Air. Moore worked in the summer of 1894 at 
Mountain Iron, and in the fall of the same year started the first stripping 
on what is now the Adams open pit at Eveleth. 

Mr. Moore was born on a farm in Williams County, Ohio, May 20, 
1865, and is one of nine children born to John and Frances (Wight) 
Moore, both directly descended from a long line of American ancestry. 
He was three years old when he accompanied his parents to Camden, 
Indiana, where he was reared and educated. When he was twenty-one 
he began life for himself, and, incidentally, prior to that he obtained 
an inkling of civil engineering under the county surveyor of the county 
where his father was a member of the Board of Commissioners. 

Mr. Moore worked on a gravel train at one dollar and ten cents a 
day to enable him to secure funds wherewith to acquire a special educa- 
tion at the Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. He did all this inter- 
mittently. Through the influence, indirectly, of Mr. McNaughton of 
the Wisconsin Central Railroad he was induced to go to the Gogebic 
Range in Michigan to put in operation a steam shovel which had been 
unsuccessfully tried out. Messrs. Dickerman and Alcoott were then in 
charge of the old Lake Superior Consolidated. Mr. Moore filled two 
cars in the fast time of eight minutes, and this was the record up to 
that date. He remained on the Gogebic Range until the panic of 1893. In 
the following year he moved to Mountain Iron on the Mesaba Range of 
northern Minnesota. As previously mentioned, he worked at the Adams 
open pit and remained on various places on the Range until 1900, then 
taking charge of the mining for the Pitt Iron Mining Company, and 
since that year has been a resident of Virginia. In 1897, however, owing 
to abnormal depression in iron ore production, Mr. Moore secured a leave 
of absence to do steam shovel work for Thomas A. Edison. He became 
intimately acquainted with the noted scientist and inventor, and one of his 
highly prized possessions is an autograph letter from Mr. Edison, extolling 
the abilities of Moore in high terms. 

On January 17, 1899, Mr. Moore was married to Miss Nellie Rowan, 
of St. Paul, Minnesota. They have three daughters : Frances, Lavelle 
and Eleanor. Fraternally Mr. Moore is affiliated with the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks and the Kiwanis Club. He has never been a 
seeker after political office, but has always given a good citizen's atten- 
tion to civic matters designed for the public benefit. 

William F. Lawrence. Senior member of the contracting firm of 
Lawrence & McCann of Eveleth, and a leading and progressive business 
man of this community, William F. Lawrence has been a frequenter 
of the Range country for the past fifteen years, during which time he 
has established a substantial reputation for business integrity and sound 
citizenship. He is of Canadian nativity, having been born in the Province 
of Ontario September 8, 1879, and when three years of age was brought 
by his parents, William D. and Margaret (Fleming) Lawrence, to North 
Dakota, moving thence to Duluth and later to Two Harbors. The father, 
now deceased, was a farmer during his early years and later a con- 
tractor. He is survived by the widow. 

William F. Lawrence received his educational training at Two Harbors 
and Duluth, in the public schools, and at the age of sixteen years secured 
a position as bookkeeper for a lumber concern at Two Harbors. Follow- 
ing this he was engaged in logging, sawmilling and lumbering, and through 
these connections became identified with his present line of business. 
Mr. Lawrence is part owner of a lumber yard at Two Harbors, his 
associate in the business being his former employer there. For six 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1145 

years he was a partner at Duluth of the contracting firm of Pastorer- 
Lawrence Company, but severed his connection with that enterprise in 
January, 1913, when was formed at Eveleth the firm of Lawrence & 
McCann, of which James H. Lunz was a member one year, Mr. Law- 
rence's present partner being Charles R. McCann. This concern has 
always had its headquarters at Eveleth, where it maintains offices in the 
First National Bank Building. The business of Lawrence & McCann 
pertains principally to contract work in road grading and paving city 
streets and alley work of all kinds, water works and sewers and general 
construction connected therewith. Their contracts have included all the 
paved streets of Eveleth, Biwabik, Gilbert and Aurora, with a good deal 
of the same kind of work done at Mountain Iron, Virginia and Buhl, and 
sewers and water works have been erected by them at all these places. 
Mr. Lawrence is a Protestant in his religious faith, and in politics is 
a Republican. He is fraternally identified with the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, and also holds membership in the Eveleth Rotary 
Club. 

Hugh A. Farnand has been on the Mesaba Range since 1909, and 
by practical experience rather than through the advantage of a technical 
degree acquired in college has become an expert in the different phases 
of iron ore mining, and for several years has enjoyed increasing responsi- 
bilities from the Inland Steel Company, who now employ him as local 
superintendent of the Laura Mine at Hibbing. 

Mr. Farnand was born at Buckingham in the Province of Quebec, 
Canada, June 20, 1886. He is the oldest of five sons of Patrick N. and 
Mary (Fahey) Farnand. In 1894 the family moved to the United 
States and located at Norway, Michigan, where Patrick Farnand lived 
until his death on March 12, 1908. 

' Hugh A. Farnand graduated from high school at Norway in 1905, 
and during the subsequent fifteen years has had a great variety of busi- 
ness experience. His first important employment after leaving high 
school was as blacksmith's helper in the Monroe Mine at Norway. For 
about a year he filled the position of assistant postmaster at Norway. 
He was next employed as a line man for the Telephone Company, filled 
some positions in the Hiawatha Mine at Michigamme, Michigan, assisted 
in installing the electric light plant at Iron River, Michigan, spent six 
months in Duluth and then in 1909 came to the Mesaba Range at Eveleth 
and kept time underground in the Fayal Mine for the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company. Two years later, on February 22, 1911, he became clerk at 
the Laura Mine at Hibbing for the Inland Steel Company. In the next 
fall that corporation began operating the Grace Mine, and Mr. Farnand 
was given additional responsibilities as clerk of this mine. June 1, 1915, 
he was promoted to superintendent of both mines, and since the opera- 
tion of the Grace Mine was discontinued in 1918 his duties have been 
as local superintendent of the Laura Mine. 

Mr. Farnand is a Catholic, is a fourth degree Knight of Columbus, 
and votes independently. He was appointed a member of the Library 
Board in 1919. On January 22, 1913, he married Miss Mary Cummings. 
Their five children are Patrick Bernard, Katharine Mary, John Francis, 
Margaret Ellen and Elizabeth Ann. 

William A. Masters. While there have been active mining opera- 
tions in the Chisholm district for over twenty years, the history of the 
village began in 1901, and just about two years later William A. Masters 
appeared on the scene and has been continuously identified with the life 



1146 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

and affairs of the locality and in a way to give him prestige as one of 
the leading citizens. 

When he came to the village his first duties were as bookkeeper in 
the mercantile firm of E. G: St. Clair and Anton Enger. Mr. Masters 
recalls that when he arrived at Chisholm the village consisted of only 
ten or twelve buildings on Main street. The population was just begin- 
ning to exert itself in the matter of municipal improvements. They 
had been getting light and power from a sawmill on Longyear Lake. 
A very small amount of sidewalk had been constructed, but no sewerage 
system had been installed. Mr. Masters by continued residence has 
witnessed all the remarkable changes in Chisholm, transforming it from 
a mining camp to a modern city. He was here during the great fire which 
swept away the village in the fall of 1908, and was one of the citizens 
who with courage returned and set themselves toward the task of 
rebuilding. 

After about two years of service as bookkeeper he was recorder of 
the village for three years, until 1909. In that year he bought the Chis- 
holm Herald, the first newspaper established at the village and in the 
same year as the village was incorporated. He bought the paper and 
plant from its founder, F. W. Tallboys. He continued its publication 
a year and then sold out to engage in the automobile business. His was 
the first venture of the kind in Chisholm and he was owner of the second 
car in the town. Mr. Masters has sold automobiles for the past ten 
years, and has represented the Wyllis-Knight, Overland and Mitchell 
cars and has also carried a line of automobile accessories. 

Along with a prospering business Mr. Masters has seldom been with- 
out official occupation and duties in Chisholm. In 1911 he was elected 
municipal judge, and held that post continuously for eight years, until 
1919. He has been a member of the School Board since 1912. 

Judge Masters was born in a log house on a farm in Schuyler County, 
Missouri, September 10, 1883. He was one of three children, two of 
whom are still living. His father was Henry Clay Masters and his 
mother, May Rowland. His father spent his early years as a farmer, 
but more recently has been engaged in the mining industry. In 1884, 
when William A. Masters, was a year old, his parents moved to Ottumwa, 
Iowa, and he spent his childhood and boyhood there to the age of thirteen. 
He acquired a common school education, and from boyhood has been a 
worker and most of the years of his life he has been on his own respon- 
sibility. His home has been at Chisholm since he was twenty years of 
age. Mr. Masters is a Republican in politics and is affiliated with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, the Order 
of Elks and the local Kiwanis Club. On April 28, 1907, he married Miss 
Bertha Harris, of Hibbing. Their three children are William A., Jr., 
May and Frederick. 

Frank W. Bullen, M. D. In no other profession is the true char- 
acter of a man brought out so prominently as that of medicine, and as he 
really is, so is he held by his professional associates and colleagues. All 
who have the honor of Doctor Bullen's acquaintance admit that he is 
respected, honored and beloved not only by his associates but those to 
whom he has long been a ministering friend. Since 1907 he has been 
connected with the medical fraternity of Hibbing, and his influence is 
strongly felt here and throughout St. Louis County. 

Doctor Bullen was born at Mason, Michigan, October 23, 1869, a son 
of George and Lodema (Wright) Bullen, both of whom were of English 
parentage. George Bullen was a farmer who died about 1874. Growing 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1147 

up in Michigan, Doctor Bullen passed his boyhood on his father's farm, 
and after he had studied in the Mason schools he spent two years at 
the Michigan State Agricultural College, following which' he embarked 
in a drug business and was engaged in this line in Kansas and Colorado 
for a few years and later at Chicago. He then took a six months' course 
at the Chicago School of Pharmacy. In 1893 he entered Rush Medical 
College, from which he was graduated in 1896, following which he 
served for eighteen months as an interne in Cook County Hospital and 
then was resident physician of the Milwaukee Emergency Hospital. 
In 1900 he located at Eveleth, Minnesota, and was there engaged in a 
general practice, following which he established himself at Hibbing, 
and is connected with the Rood Hospital. He is a member of the 
St. Louis County Medical Society, the Minnesota State Medical Society 
and the American Medical Association. Doctor Bullen is a thirty-second 
degree Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. He was 
examining physician for the Local Draft Board during the great war. 
A Republican, he has served as deputy county coroner for several years, 
and was elected a director of the Hibbing School Board in 1920 to serve 
a term of three years, and was elected chairman of the board in 1921. 
In 1904 Doctor Bullen was united in marriage with Maude Betts, of 
Litchfield, Minnesota. They have two children, Janet and Ann. Doctor 
Bullen is an exceptionally capable man in every respect and his fellow 
citizens show their appreciation of him and the service he is rendering 
his community whenever the opportunity is given them. 

John W. Dohm is a graduate engineer of the University of Wis- 
consin, and almost ever since leaving the University has been identified 
in a professional capacity with Hibbing, where he is now president of 
the Dohm Building Company. 

Mr. Dohm was born on a farm in Dane County, near Madison, 
Wisconsin, August 25, 1887, son of W. A. and Frederika Dohm. His 
father was a native of New York State and his mother of Germany. 
W. A. Dohm as a boy accompanied his parents to Wisconsin when that 
was still a territory. Owing to the early death of his parents he became 
head of the household at the age of sixteen, bore his responsibilities with 
courage and fortitude and for many years lived the life of a capable 
farmer and stanch citizen of Dane County. In early years the nearest 
railroad point was Milwaukee, and he was one of many settlers who 
carried the produce of the farm to that city to market. 

John W. Dohm, one of ten children, all of whom are still living, 
grew up on the homestead in Dane County, acquired a district school 
education, and was graduated from the high school of Madison in 1905. 
Then after some experiences chiefly connected with the home farm he 
entered the engineering school of the University of Wisconsin in 1907. 
He was graduated in 1911, and for several months following was 
employed in the engineering department of the Northwestern Railway 
Company. 

Mr. Dohm came to Hibbing in the spring of 1912, and for seven 
months was connected with the engineering department of the Oliver 
Iron Mining Company. For about a year he performed similar services 
for the Meriden Iron Company, and after that until 1916 was in the 
engineering department of Hibbing village. In 1916 he organized the 
Dohm Building Company at Duluth, and supervised the operations of 
the company at Duluth until the fall of that year. He then returned 
to Hibbing to perform some special engineering service for the village, 
and in 1917 transferred the headquarters of the Dohm Building Company 



1148 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

to Hibbing. This business succeeded that of Gust Linder, and for the 
past three years the company had devoted all its facilities to the general 
building and contracting business. Some of the work accomplished by 
Mr. Dohm's organization includes the construction of the gas plant at 
Hibbing, the village market and barn, the laying of concrete pavements 
at Mountain Iron, the erection of an ore washing plant at Calumet, and 
the building of the incinerating plant, greenhouse and administration hall 
for the village of Hibbing. 

Mr. Dohm is a member of the Commercial Club, is an independent 
voter, and belongs to the Presbyterian Church and the Order of Elks. 
On November 29, 1919, he married Irma M. Clarke, of Rice Lake, 
Wisconsin. 

John Curran is a native son of Minnesota, has long been active in 
business affairs, and his career for a number of years past has been 
closely identified with the village of Hibbing, not only as a merchant 
but as one of the live and public spirited citizens of the community. 

He was born at Gaylord in Sibley County, Minnesota, December 11, 
1876, son of Martin and Mary (Manion) Curran. His parents were both 
natives of Ireland. Martin Curran, who came to this country about 
1851, possessed only an ordinary education, but exemplified stalwart 
manhood and Americanism. He lived in Maine and the New England 
states, but shortly before the outbreak of the Civil war moved out to 
Hastings, Minnesota. While there he enlisted and served in the Union 
army, participating in the battle of Lookout Mountain and through all 
the Atlanta campaign. With the close of the war he located at Gaylord 
in Sibley County, subsequently lived at New Ulm, and died there in 1917. 

One of a family of seven children, John Curran grew up at Gaylord, 
acquired a public school education, and after examination qualified for 
teaching and for three terms followed that profession in country schools 
in Minnesota. Since then the chief line of his experience has been mer- 
chandising. He was a general merchant at Franklin, Minnesota, for about 
seven years, but in October, 1906, came to Hibbing and engaged in the 
grocery and meat market business on Pine street. His place of business 
for the past six years has been at 709-11 Third avenue. 

Mr. Curran has always taken a decided interest in community affairs. 
While at Franklin he served as village recorder two years. In 1912 he 
was elected a member of the village Council of Hibbing, and has been a 
member of every successive council to the present. He has helped plan 
and execute all the many improvements that have given Hibbing an 
enviable reputation among the villages of the United States. Mr. Curran 
is a Catholic in religion, an independent voter, and is a member of the 
Hibbing Commercial Club. September 9, 1907, he married Miss Lillian 
H. Miller, of St. Louis, Missouri. Their five children are Harry W., 
Dorothy H., Irene M., Catherine G. and John J. Jr. 

Frank E. Downing. The industrial interests of northern Minnesota 
are too important to permit of the employment in official positions of any 
but the most expert of men in their several lines. To secure and hold 
such positions and be able to meet and solve the numerous perplexing 
problems constantly coming up the successful candidate for them finds 
useful a technical knowledge gained through a university training, but 
must have practical knowledge as well, and both of these requisites are 
possessed, as well as others, by Frank E. Downing, assistant to the gen- 
eral manager of the Shenango Furnace Company at Chisholm until he 
recently moved to Gadsden, Alabama, and is now with the Cherokee Coal 
and Iron Company. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1149 

Frank E. Downing was born at St. Charles, Winona County, Minne- 
sota, August 17, 1878. He is a son of Benjamin F. and Ida (Nichols) 
Downing, farming people, and grandson of a New Hampshire born 
and bred man, who in 1856 came to Winona County, Minnesota. After 
he located a claim he returned to New Hampshire with the expectation 
of taking his family back west with him, but contracted pneumonia and 
died, leaving his ambition in this respect ungratified. In 1857, however, 
his family carried out his wishes and moved to Winona County, and 
there his son Benjamin F. Downing is still residing on the homestead 
his father entered from the Government so many years ago. 

One of the four children born to "his parents, all of whom survive, 
Frank E. Downing was reared on this homestead and taught to be a 
useful member of his community. He attended the local schools, com- 
pleted the St. Charles High School course when seventeen years of age, 
and in the subsequent winter taught his first and last term of country 
school. For several years following this he worked at various occupa- 
tions and attended the University of Minnesota, from which he was 
graduated in 1904 with the degree of Civil Engineer. It was while he 
was working his way through the university that he was employed on 
Government surveying of the headwaters of the Mississippi River from 
July, 1899, to September, 1900, and later as transitman for E. J. Longyear 
on the Mesaba Range from October, 1901, to September, 1903. 

After completing school work Mr. Downing was engaged in prospect- 
ing for iron ore in Canada for E. J. Longyear until August, 1905. On 
August 30, 1905, he was married to Alice Gaumon, of Minneapolis, 
Minnesota, and that same year located at Hibbing as an employe of the 
Meriden Iron Company, and served it as engineer until March, 1906, 
when he became an engineer for the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 
This work occupied him until September, 1908, when he was placed in 
charge of the ore estimating department in the office of Mr. J. U. 
Sebenius, general mining engineer in the Duluth office of the Oliver Iron 
Mining Company, and retained this position until October 1, 1911, when 
he came to Chisholm as chief engineer of the Shenango Furnace Com- 
pany, and in March, 1914, became assistant to the general manager. Mr. 
Downing is a member of the Duluth Engineers Club, the Engineers Club 
of Northern Minnesota, the Minnesota Engineers and Surveyors Society, 
and the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. He 
and his wife are the parents of three children, Lewis B., Isabel M. and 
Joan M. 

Gust A. Apuli. Far from the place of his birth, in the fair Euro- 
pean northland, Mr. Apuli has found opportunities for the achieving of 
substantial and worthy success through his own ability and efforts, and 
he is today one of the leading merchants of Mount Iron, Minnesota, 
where he is engaged in the hardware and furniture business. He was 
a young man when he came to America, and here his advancement has 
been won by honest and earnest endeavor. 

Mr. Apuli, the eldest in a family of eight children, was born in 
Finland, December 29, 1869, and is a son of Karl and Susanna Apuli, 
the father having been a farmer in Finland and there having passed his 
entire life, and the mother is still a resident of that far distant land. 
The subject of this sketch acquired his early education in the schools 
of his native land and at the age of twelve years initiated his practical 
experience by entering upon a virtual apprenticeship in the shop of his 
paternal grandfather, who was a coppersmith by trade and vocation. He 
remained with his grandfather seven years, and in the meanwhile became 



1150 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

a skilled artisan at the trade noted. Ambitious and determined of pur- 
pose, he then severed home ties and came to the United States, he having 
been nineteen years of age at the time. On his arrival in this country 
he made his way to the home of kinsfolk at Brainard, Minnesota, and 
there he found employment in unloading coal cars on the Northern 
Pacific Railroad, this arduous occupation having engaged his attention 
during a period of thirteen months. The railroad company then sent 
him to Staples, this state, where eventually he won promotion to the 
position of inspector in the railroad yards. In August, 1890, he made 
his appearance in the city of Duluth, where he soon found employment 
with the Duluth Cornice Company, which assigned him to service in con- 
nection with doing the sheet-iron work on the new union railway station. 
Later he was engaged in similar work at Superior, Wisconsin, but in 
November, 1890, became a clerk in the hardware store of A. C. Osborn 
at Duluth, a position which he retained until the autumn of 1893. In 
the fall of the preceding year he and five other young men journeyed 
with team and wagon from Duluth to Mount Iron, and here he filed 
entry on a homestead of 160 acres a few miles distant from the village. 
He later perfected his title to forty acres of this homestead, and in the 
meanwhile he had continued his service in the hardware store at Duluth 
until the fall of 1893, after which he followed an independent business as 
a sheet-iron worker until 1895. He then went to Bismarck, North Dakota, 
where for three years he continued in the employ of the Hare & Holt 
Hardware Company. In this connection he gained valuable experience in 
and became a skilled workman at the plumbing and heating trade, and his 
ambition led him also to devote his evenings to study, in connection with 
which he took a special course in the celebrated International Correspond- 
ence School at Scranton, Pennsylvania. One of his friends had at this 
time charge of the plant of the Hughes Electric Company at Bismarck, 
and in this plant Mr. Apuli passed many hours after the completion of 
his regular work. The knowledge which he thus gained by close obser- 
vation and study resulted in his being placed in charge of the plant when 
his friend was transferred to another station. Within a month after he 
had assumed this position the company sent him to the city of Fargo to 
erect a new electric plant, and after completing this assignment he was 
placed in charge of the new plant. In 1900 Mr. Apuli was appointed 
superintendent of the electric plant of the North Pacific Railroad at 
Brainard, Minnesota, where he retained this position two years. The 
following years he passed as clerk in a hardware store at Eveleth, this 
state, and he then came to Mountain Iron to take up the work of jacket- 
ing engines for the Oliver Mining Company. In March, 1903, Mr. Apuli 
here opened a small hardware store, and from this modest nucleus has 
built up a substantial and prosperous hardware and furniture business, 
with an establishment of the best equipment and service. He has become 
one of the popular and influential citizens and business men of Mountain 
Iron, where he has served continuously since 1904 as a member of the 
municipal Board of Trustees, and as a director of the Board of Educa- 
tion since 1907. He was village assessor in 1905-6 and also served two 
terms as village treasurer. He is a Republican in politics, is affiliated 
with the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his wife are active 
communicants of the Lutheran Church. During the nation's participation 
in the World war Mr. Apuli had the active supervision of the first Young 
Men's Christian Association drive at Mountain Iron, and was otherwise 
loyal and influential in the furtherance of local war activities. While a 
resident of Duluth he served four years as a member of Company H, 
Thirteenth Resfiment, Minnesota National Guard. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1151 

In the city of Duluth, in February, 1895, was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Apuli to Miss Margaret Onhala, who likewise is a native 
of 'Finland, and they have four children — Helmi S., Waino E., Carl A. 
and John A. 

Jonathan S. Henderson is essentially one of the progressive and 
representative business men of the village of Mountain Iron, where he 
successfully engaged in general contracting enterprise as senior member 
of the firm of Henderson & Murphy, his coadjutor being Charles W. 
Murphy, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this 
volume. 

Mr. Henderson was born at Parker's Prairie, Minnesota, on the 24th 
of November, 1877, and is a son of Hans J. and Mary Lulu (Hazen) 
Henderson, the former of whom was born in the state of Pennsylvania 
May 16, 1852, of Holland Dutch ancestry. The marriage of the par- 
ents was solemnized November 8, 1870, and of the five children the 
subject of this review was the second in order of birth. 

Hans J. Anderson was nine years of age when his parents immi- 
grated to America and established their home in the city of Chicago, 
where he was given the advantages of the public schools. His loyalty 
to the land of parental adoption was significantly shown when, at the 
age of fifteen years, he ran away from home to enlist for service in 
defense of the Union when the Civil war was precipitated. He became 
a member of the Third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which gal- 
lant command he served three years and nine months — virtually the 
entire period of the war. In later years his continued interest in his old 
comrades was shown by his active affiliation with the Grand Army of 
'the Republic. The major part of his active career was marked by asso- 
ciation with farm industry, but he was engaged in the retail grocery 
business at Mountain Iron, Minnesota, at the time of his death. 

The initial educational discipline of Jonathan S. Henderson was ob- 
tained in the district school near the old home farm at Parker's Prairie, 
and later he attended the public schools of Henning and Wadena, Minne- 
sota. When twelve years of age he found employment in cutting bands 
on a threshing machine, and for this operative service he received fifty 
cents a day. At the age of seventeen years he found employment 'in the 
Minnesota Insane Asylum at Fergus Falls, where he remained about 
eighteen months. For thirteen months thereafter he was employed on 
a farm in North Dakota, and in 1898, at the inception of the Spanish- 
American war, he enlisted for military service at Fargo, that state. He 
became a member of the Third United States Cavalry, known as 
Grigsby's Rough Riders, and continued in service for four months, but 
his regiment was not called to the stage of active conflict. On the 20th 
of November. 1898. after having received his honorable discharge, 
Mr. Henderson entered the employ of his uncle at Bemidji. Minnesota. 
where he engaged in hauling steel for the Red Lake Transportation Com- 
pany. The following spring he went to Montana and engaged as a 
teamster for the Hibner Construction Company, connected with railroad 
construction work. In the autumn he became associated with building 
operations at Cass Lake, Montana, in the employ of the firm of Claven 
& Tanner, and in the winter of 1899 he entered the employ of A. B. 
Hazen, proprietor of the old Merchants' Hotel at Bemidji, Minnesota. 
He held the position of night clerk at this hotel until the following spring, 
when he made his way to San Francisco, California, in which state he 
was employed one year in the saw mill of N. W. Durney. He passed 
the summer of 1901 as an employe on the S. S. Dudley farm on the 



1152 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Wild Horse Indian Reservation in Oregon and in the following autumn 
went to British Columbia and took the position of ax man with the 
engineering corps that was surveying the branch line of the Great North- 
ern Railroad from Jennings, Montana, to Elco, British Columbia. During 
the ensuing spring and summer he was associated in the construction of 
a telegraph line for the Great Northern Railroad from Spokane to Seattle, 
Washington, and in the fall was transferred to Devil's Lake, North Da- 
kota, and assigned to line work. In November,, however, he returned 
to Bemidji, Minnesota, where he worked that winter on the homestead 
farm of Doctor Morrison. During the following year he clerked in a gro- 
cery at Bemidji, in which village he then purchased the Nicollet Hotel, 
which he conducted eleven months. He then sold the hotel business 
and again engaged as a grocery clerk. In 1905 he went to St. Paul, 
where he clerked in a mercantile establishment about one year, at the 
expiration of which he came to Mountain Iron, where he gave about 
three months of service as a teamster for the Oliver Mining Company. 
He next passed a similar period as steam-shovel fireman for the Pitt 
Iron Mining Company, and after having been identified with other lines 
of work for about two years he was engaged as a traveling salesman 
in the handling of household goods about eighteen months. He then 
returned to Mountain Iron, where he conducted a restaurant for six 
months. He then sold this business, and within a few months there- 
after was appointed chief of the police and fire departments of Moun- 
tain Iron, with ex-officio service also as truant officer. He continued to 
discharge these multifarious duties seven years, and for the ensuing years 
was associated with his father in the grocery and meat market business 
at Mountain Iron. In the autumn of 1917 he formed a partnership with 
Charles W. Murphy and purchased the Mountain Iron Livery, which 
they continued as a livery until the spring of 1920, when they turned 
their attention to general contracting, in which field of enterprise they 
have since continued with marked success. 

In politics Mr. Henderson is independent of strict partisan lines, and 
the year 1920 found him giving his fourth year of service as a member 
of the municipal Board of Trustees of his home village, in the welfare 
and advancement of which he takes loyal and vital interest. Mr. Hen- 
derson is affiliated with the lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Virginia, as well 
as with the camp of the Modern Woodmen of America at that place. 
His religious faith is that of the Lutheran Church. 

January 28, 1902. recorded the marriage of Mr. Henderson to Miss 
Frances Helen Hoyt, who was born and reared in the state of Wis- 1 
consin, and they have four children — Robert I., Beatrice A., Orville and 
Dida H. 

Charles W. Murphy, junior member of the firm of Henderson & 
Murphy, which has developed and controls a substantial and important 
general contracting business at Mountain Iron and which is one of the 
representative business concerns of the great mining region of this section 
of Minnesota, is a young man of ability and progressiveness and is 
entitled to specific recognition in this publication. 

Mr. Murphy was born at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on the 19th of 
April, 1883, and is a son of Angus and Jane (Graton) Murphy, both 
natives of the Dominion of Canada, where the former was born, in Nova 
Scotia, on the 15th of October, 1848, and where the latter was born June 
25, 1863, she having been but sixteen years of age at the time of her 
marriage. Angus Murphy came to the United States about the year 1880, 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1153 

and he was long identified with lumbering operations in Michigan and 
Wisconsin. He served as foreman in the lumber districts, and he died on 
the 3d of October, 1909, about twelve days prior to his sixty-second 
birthday anniversary. His widow now resides at Hibbing, Minnesota, 
and of their ten children, Charles W., of this sketch, was the fourth in 
order of birth. 

Charles W. Murphy acquired his early education in the public schools 
of Chippewa Falls, where he also attended for one year a Catholic 
parochial school. After leaving school he was for two years employed on 
a farm in his native county, and for the ensuing three years was employed 
by the Northern Lumber & Boom Company, for which corporation he 
worked in the lumber woods during the winter seasons and in the lumber 
yards during the intervening summers. From 1900 to 1905 he was 
employed by this company in the vicinity of Ovet, Wisconsin, as a worker 
in the lumber camp during the winters and in the saw mill in the summers. 
During the following autumn and winter after leaving the employ of this 
company Mr. Murphy held a position as brakeman on the Duluth & 
Northern Railroad, and he then took a similar position with the Great 
Northern Railroad, in which connection he continued his service until 
February, 1906, the following year finding him similarly engaged with the 
Mesaba Southern Railroad. During the summer and fall of 1907 he 
worked as a brakeman on the railroad operated by the Oliver Mining 
Company, with headquarters at Mountain Iron, and during the following 
winter was similarly employed by the company at Gilbert. On the 6th of 
April, 1908, he was appointed village marshal of Gilbert, artd of this posi- 
tion he continued the efficient incumbent until the spring of 1910, when he 
assumed a similar office in "the village of Coston. The following winter 
found him in service as a conductor on the line of the Mesaba Southern 
Railroad, and in the spring of 1907 he was appointed night patrolman at 
Mountain Iron. He served in this capacity until 1915, and during. the 
following winter owned and conducted a pool and billiard room at 
Mountain Iron. In the following spring he entered the employ of William 
Golden, who was engaged in the retail liquor business in this village, and 
in the summer of 1917 he amplified his experience by purchasing and 
conducting a confectionery store, which he retained about one year. In 
the fall of 1917 he purchased the Mountain Iron Livery, in company with 
Jonathan S. Henderson, and in the spring of 1920 the firm of Henderson 
& Murphy withdrew from the livery business to establish its present thriv- 
ing contracting enterprise. In the spring of 1919 Mr. Murphy purchased 
a farm adjacentto the village, and he is developing this into one of the 
excellent places of this locality. That he has secured place in popular 
confidence and esteem in the community is shown by the fact that in 1920 
he is serving his fourth consecutive term as president of the Village 
Council of Mountain Iron. He is a stalwart Democrat in politics, and he 
and his wife are communicants of the Catholic Church. At Virginia he is 
affiliated with the lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 
At the time of the World war Mr. Murphy was a member of the com- 
mittee which had charge of the various drives in support of the Govern- 
ment war loans in this community, and was also chairman of the Local 
Defense League. 

On the 20th of November, 1909, was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Murphy to Miss Elizabeth England, of Ashland, Wisconsin, and she 
presides as the popular chatelaine of their pleasant home at Mountain 
Iron. They have no children. 



1154 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 



Mountain Iron Public Library. With the spread of education and 
the consequent growing taste for knowledge, the opening of a modern 
public library in a community is a notable event. The benefits of a library 
have been recognized from far olden times, ever since civilization and 
culture moved hand in hand along the path of progress. Far back before 
the art of printing precious manuscripts and hieroglyphics graven on wood 
and stone were carefully preserved for the study and edification of the 
learned, and, fortunately, for the perpetuation of historic annals. We 
may be led to wonder, perhaps, concerning the types of students who took 
advantage of the first public library on record, that established by the 
philosopher Pisistratus at Athens in 357 B. C, and recognizing the urgent 
call of the present day for more knowledge we may well believe there 
were also in ancient times many who were profited thereby. Many of the 
great libraries of the world, however, have been entirely closed to the 
general public, and while their priceless manuscripts and heavv tomes 
have been rich with learning, there has been afforded no key to this vast 
accumulation of knowledge, entertainment and satisfaction that the humble 
as well as the high could turn in the lock. 

When the late Andrew Carnegie determined to donate a part of an 
unusual fortune to the building of libraries it was in recognition of this 
fact and memories of the inadequacy of library service that hampered his 
own ambitious search for knowledge in youth. It will ever be impossible 
to truly estimate the value of his philanthropy. 

Among the many communities benefited through accepting the reason- 
able terms of Mr. Carnegie in relation to establishing a library, Mountain 
Iron, Minnesota, is now in the enjoyment of a public library second to 
none in the country. It was opened in 1915, during the administration of 
an able library board, of which Charles Walker was president and J. F. 
Muench was secretary. It was built at a cost of $25,000, exclusive of the 
site, $8,000 of which was donated by Andrew Carnegie. The architect 
of this beautiful structure was Mr. Shand, and Mr. Sampson was the 
contractor. On the main floor there is a general room, one side for adults 
and the other for children, a reference room and an office. In the base- 
ment, which serves as a community center, there is an auditorium, a men's 
smoking room, a fully equipped kitchen and a magazine store-room. On 
the library shelves are 6,000 books, a full line of both technical and fic- 
tional magazines. In 1920 there were 871 active subscribers and 22,156 
books were borrowed. 

Since the opening Miss Stella M. Stebbins has been librarian. The 
president of the Library Board is J. F. Muench, Esther Peltier being 
secretary. The other members are C. A. Webb, P. Hagen, D. E. Burley. 
T. Williams, P. J. Erickson, W. F. Anderson and Oscar Luhkarila, all 
business men and reputable citizens. Deep interest is shown by the entire 
community and the enterprise may confidently be declared one of great 
and permanent benefit. 

Percy A. Carmiciiael. It has been the privilege and fortune of 
Percy A. Carmichael to realize many of his worthy ambitions and through 
the exercise of energy and the acceptance of opportunities to attain suc- 
cess in his chosen field of endeavor. Starting his career in boyhood in a 
humble capacity, he has gradually worked his way up the ladder, and 
today is superintendent of the Hobart Mine at Gilbert for the Hanna Ore 
Mining Company. 

Mr. Carmichael was born at Michigamme, Michigan, March 19, 1887. 
a son of James Carmichael, who was born in Canada, and a grandson of 




JAS. A. ROBB 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1155 

Gilbert Carmichael, a native of Scotland. Gilbert Carmichael was a young 
man when he immigrated to America, settling first in Canada, and then 
coming to the United States and locating in northern Michigan, where his 
death occurred. James Carmichael was engaged in the butcher business 
for some years at Michigamme, whence he went to Calumet and followed 
the same line, and then entered the employ of the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company in the capacity of clerk. Through his brothers the name of 
Carmichael is widely known in mining circles as belonging to early miners 
and developers of mines on the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota. In 
1907 James Carmichael came to Hibbing, Minnesota, and worked as a 
clerk in the clerical department of the Oliver Iron Mining Company until 
his death in 1920. He was married at Michigamme, Michigan, to Louise 
Croll, and they became the parents of three children, all of whom survive : 
Irving, a consulting engineer at Winnipeg, Canada ; Percy A., and Ruth, 
the wife of Walter H. Trenerry, of Duluth. 

Percy A. Carmichael received a grammar and preparatory school edu- 
cation, and at the age of fifteen years entered upon his independent career 
as a clerk in the office of a lumberman in his home community. At 
Hibbing, subsequently, he secured a position in the engineering department 
of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, and continued to be identified there- 
with for some seven years after which for seven months he was under- 
ground foreman at the Mississippi Mine. Following this he was ore 
inspector for the Great Northern ore lands, and when the Arthur Mining 
Company inaugurated its safety plan Mr. Carmichael became their first 
safety inspector. From this position he became captain of the Alex- 
andria Mine at Chisholm, and in August, 1918, was made superintendent 
of the Hobart Mine at Gilbert for the Hanna Ore Mining Company, a 
position which he has filled capably to the present time. Mr. Carmichael's 
experience has covered many phases of the mining industry, and his 
thorough and comprehensive knowledge of various departments and 
details makes him a valuable man to his company. He is energetic and 
progressive, possesses the confidence of his superiors and the good will of 
his men, and out of a busy and energetic life has gained that self-confi- 
dence that comes through holding one's own in a hard struggle for 
supremacy. 

Mr. Carmichael is a Presbyterian in religious faith and in political 
allegiance supports the Republican party and its candidates. He has not 
sought public preferment, but is a good citizen and during the World war 
period was one of the directors of the United States Defense League at 
Gilbert and a director of the Liberty Loan campaigns. He belongs to the 
Knights of Pythias, is a thirty-second degree Ancient and Accepted Scot- 
tish Rite Mason and holds membership in the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Car- 
michael was married October 14, 1919, to Miss Corinne Whitney, of 
Clayton, Minnesota. 

James A. Robb. Many causes contribute to the almost invariable 
interest surrounding the early settlers in any community. As the years 
lend distance and romance to their arrival the honor becomes a coveted 
one, more especially if the settlement has utilized its most enlightening 
opportunities and become the abode of peaceful and prosperous humanity. 
A companion of the wilderness of early northern St. Louis County, 
James A. Robb, one of the earliest of the pioneers of this part of the 
state, has participated in the development and progress of "several towns 
of the Mesaba Range, and since 1896 has resided at Eveleth, where he is 
at the head of a prosperous fuel and building material business. 

Vol. Ill — 15 



1156 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

James A. Robb was born at Ottawa, Canada, May 9, 1863, a son of 
John and Jane (Noble) Robb, natives, respectively, of Scotland and the 
North of Ireland. The parents emigrated separately to Canada, where 
they were married and where both died, leaving seven children. James 
A. Robb was reared in Canada, where he received his education in the 
public schools, and at the early age of thirteen years began caring for 
himself. He began his career as a clerk in a general store in Canada, but 
in 1884 came to Minnesota, where, at Tower, he went to work in a saw- 
mill operated by the Minnesota Iron Company. He was compelled to 
walk from Two Harbors over the railroad right-of-way, the road not then 
having been completed, and when he arrived at Tower he found it but a 
straggling mining camp. He was employed there until 1889, when he 
went to Mesaba, the second town on the Mesaba Range, and continued 
working in a sawmill. Later, with Frank S. Colvin, he opened a lumber 
yard at Merritt, the first town on the Mesaba Range, but after a short 
time went to Biwabik, which was then only a railroad point. In 1896 he 
came to Eveleth, and has since been engaged in a flourishing fuel and 
building material business. 

Mr. Robb has been an integral part of the wonderful development of 
northern St. Louis County. During his residence here he has seen the 
country in its various stages of progress from a vast woods, filled with 
Indians, packed with deer, moose, bear and other wild game, a fisher- 
man's paradise, to a thriving center of industrial and commercial activity. 
To those who took part in the early settlement of the county was vouch- 
safed a wealth and diversity of experience beside which that of those 
active in later years pales into insignificance. If the men of the rough 
frontier suffered, they also lived, and their existence was turned to far 
higher purpose than the mere getting and parading of wealth and its 
luxuries. The country, while wild, was clean, and in those days a code of 
honor prevailed which exemplified the straightforward qualities of the 
men who blazed the way for those who came later. 

Mr. Robb is independent in his political views, and has served capably 
as treasurer of the Village of Eveleth and as a member of the School 
Board. He has the distinction of having been made the first Entered 
Apprentice Mason in the Masonic Lodge in Eveleth, and at present is a 
thirty-second degree Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Mason and a 
member of the Mystic Shrine, and also holds membership in the Benevo- 
lent and Protective Order of Elks. 

Mr. Robb was married at Biwabik, Minnesota, February 12, 1896, to 
Miss Elizabeth Trevarthen, and they have three children: Florence J., 
John Albert and Thomas. Mrs. Robb is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Mr. Robb belongs to the Commercial Club and 
Rotary Club of Eveleth. 

John N. Carlson. In his evolution from a poorly-paid farm hand in 
Iowa to the proprietorship of a flourishing mercantile business, John N. 
Carlson, a pioneer merchant of Gilbert, supplies an inspiring example of 
the compelling power of high ideals and the worth of homely, sterling 
virtues. He was born in Sweden, February 26, 1874, a son of Carl J. and 
Carrie Johnson, and after the manner and custom of his native land took 
his father's given name, adding "son" thereto, thus making his name 
Carlson. 

Until he was twelve years of age, John N. Carlson lived in his native 
land and attended school, and for four years thereafter was variously 
employed. From a sister and several friends who had come to the United 
States he kept receiving reports as to the opportunities obtaining in this 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1157 

country for bright, ambitious and energetic youths, and in 1890, when he 
was sixteen years of age, he crossed the Atlantic and went to Harcourt, 
Iowa, where he secured employment on a farm. At this time he knew 
nothing of the language, but during his first winter spent three months at 
school, and this aided him to an understanding of the tongue, which was 
furthered during the seven years of his employment on the farm. In the 
fall of 1897 Mr. Carlson came to northern Minnesota and found employ- 
ment at the old town of Sparta, firing and working on a steam shovel in 
the old Genoa Mine of the Oliver Iron Mining Company. Later on he 
also became a sampler of ores in connection with his other work. 

In October, 1897, Mr. Carlson embarked in the haberdashery business 
with a partner at Sparta, their combined capital being $500. Mr. Carlson 
put in but a part of his time at the store and the rest of the time at other 
work. In the spring of 1898 he worked as a carpenter on the first shaft 
house built at the Sparta Mine, and also worked the pumping station for 
the Village of Sparta. In the meantime the business had grown, and in 
the fall of 1899 a hardware stock was added to the original line. In the 
fall of 1901 a fire destroyed the possessions of the partners, resulting in a 
serious financial loss, but, undiscouraged, they rebuilt their store and 
resumed business, which prospered until 1908, when Sparta was sold to 
the steel corporation. 

In 1909 the business was removed to the new town of Gilbert, and 
Mr. Carlson and his associates dissolved partnership, Mr. Carlson. at that 
time commencing alone in the hardware, furniture and undertaking busi- 
ness. He has continued in these lines to the present time, and has added 
farming implements and other articles to his stock. These, in brief, are 
the salient points in the career of a poor Swedish boy who had the courage 
to leave his native land and seek his fortune and a home in the new world, 
where through his own industry and ability he has won his way to inde- 
pendence and a substantial business position. Mr. Carlson has a reputa- 
tion for business integrity that extends beyond the limits of his immediate 
community, and has fully discharged the duties of citizenship ever since 
taking out his naturalization papers in 1896. He is a Lutheran in relig- 
ious belief and in politics is a Republican. Fraternally he is affiliated with 
the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights 
of the Maccabees and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

Mr. Carlson was married February 18, 1903, to Miss Ellen Olson, a 
native of Sweden, who came to the United States in girlhood, and they 
have the following children : Arlin B., Dean Willard, Clinton John, Elea- 
nor Caroline and Walter Myron. 

David B. Cavan was born and reared in the atmosphere of the min- 
ing districts of the Great Lakes region, and was one of those who early 
used his opportunities to perfect himself in the technical branches of 
mining, is a graduate mining engineer and now assistant general superin- 
tendent for Pickands, Mather and Company of Cleveland in the Eastern 
Mesaba District, his primary duties being at the Elba Mine at Gilbert. 

Mr. Cavan was born at Atlantic Mine, Michigan, December 30, 1885. 
His father, David Cavan, came from his native Scotland as a youth, and 
was a pioneer in the copper region of the Northern Peninsula of Michi- 
gan. He was a merchant there, later manager of the stores of the Atlan- 
tic Mining Company, and exemplified all the Scotch instinct for business 
shrewdness. He became an American citizen and died in 1899. His 
wife was Susan Cook, and they reared three children. 

David Cavan spent his early manhood in and around Houghton, 
Michigan. He graduated from the high school of that city and in 1907 



1158 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

finished the course of the Michigan College of Mines at Houghton. With 
this technical education he came at once to the Mesaba Range, and has 
been continuously in the service of Pickands, Mather and Company. 
Until 1910 he was mining engineer at the Elba Mine, then until 1912, 
assistant mining captain at the Elba and Corsica Mines, from 1912 to 
1914 was mining captain of the Mohawk Mine at Aurora, was mining 
captain of the Belgrade Mine at Biwabik from 1914 to 1917, and super- 
intendent of the Bangor, Mohawk and Hudson Mines from 1917 to 
1919. For the past two years he has been assistant general superin- 
tendent of the entire district. 

Mr. Cavan is a member of the Engineers' Club of Northern Minne- 
sota and the Eshquaguma Club. During the World war he was captain 
of Company C of the Minnesota Home Guards. He served two years as 
a member of the School Board at Aurora, and has endeavored to make 
his influence count as a g ( ood citizen, though for the most part his time 
and energies have been completely absorbed in his regular business. He 
is a member of the Episcopal Church, a Republican, and a Mason, and 
in 1918 served as master of Biwabik Lodge No. 293. 

On September 5. 1912, Mr. Cavan married Miss Alice Stanchfield. 
Their two children are David and Ann Elizabeth. 

Joseph Binney. The first scenes he looked out upon as a child 
with conscious memory were those of a famous mining section in south- 
western England, and Joseph Binney has had all the experiences of a 
miner from boyhood, has been identified with every phase of mine opera- 
tions, has mined coal as well as the metals, and for a number of years 
past has been mining captain of the Elba and Corsica Mines at Gilbert 
for Pickands. Mather and Company. 

He was born in the parish of St. Clear. Cornwall, England, December 
7, 1857, son of Henry and Mary Ann (Jay) Binney, who lived and died 
in England. He was one of nine children, only three of whom are now 
living. Growing up in his native country, with a modest period of school- 
ing, he began work at the age of eleven in the copper ore mines of 
Cornwall. He was twenty-three years of age when in 1880 he made his 
first visit to the United States. At that time he came to the mining 
district of the Great Lakes, being employed in the Osceola Mine at 
Calumet, Michigan. Later he worked in the mines of Iron Mountain, 
Michigan, and subsequently was employed to direct the operations of 
sinking a shaft for an anthracite coal mine at Scranton, Pennsylvania. 
In 1884 he went to New York city and for a time was foreman in tun- 
nel construction while one of the great aqueducts was being built for 
the city water supply. 

Then following a brief visit to his home in England Mr. Binney 
entered the service of the Pittsburg & Lake Angeline Company at Ish- 
peming. Michigan, as a miner and later as shift boss. He came to the 
Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota in 1902, and for eighteen consecu- 
tive vears has been mining captain of the Elba and Corsica Mines oper- 
ated by Pickands. Mather & Company. Captain Binney is one of the 
oldest mining captains in point of continuous service on the Mesaba 
Range, and is a man highly honored in his profession, enjoying the com- 
plete confidence of his superiors as to his efficiency and technical judg- 
ment, and also the friendship of those under him. 

Captain Binney is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, with the Lodge of Foresters at Ishpeming. and is a thirtv-second 
degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Aad Temple of the 
Mvstic Shrine. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1159 

June 19, 1886. Mr. Binney married Louisa Stephens, of Tremar Comb, 
Cornwall, England. Mrs. Binney died July 6, 1913, the mother of five 
children, named Elsie. Maud, Louisa Jane, Harriet Ann (now deceased), 
Thomas Henry and Celia May. Captain Binney's only son, Thomas H., 
was a corporal in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth United States 
Artillery. He saw service with his command in France and was mustered 
out with an honorable discharge. 

Leonard C. David. As a mining engineer few men in northern 
Minnesota have had such a varied and eventful experience as Leonard 
C. David, now general superintendent of the Eastern Mesaba District 
for Pickands, Mather & Company. 

The headquarters of this great corporation which he represents at the 
Elba location are in Cleveland, and Mr. David was born in that city Octo- 
ber 13, 1881, son of Herman and Bessie (Mayer) David. His father 
was a native of Germany and his mother of Cleveland. Both parents are 
now deceased. One of four children, Leonard C. David grew up in his 
native city, graduated from the Central High School in 1899, and 
acquired his technical education in the Case School of Applied Science. 
He was graduated as a mining engineer in 1903. 

His professional career covers seventeen years. The first two years 
were spent as engineer at the Lorett'o Mine on the Menominee Range in 
Michigan ; another year in the lead district of southwest Missouri ; and 
in March, 1906, he came to the Mesaba Range in northern Minnesota. 
For one year he was at Mountain Iron, engineer for the Oliver Iron Min- 
ing Company, and during that time laid out the Stephens Mine at Colby, 
had charge of the original drilling of the Norman Mine and the engi- 
neering work at the Higgins and Mountain Iron Mines. A promotion 
then put him at the operating end of the work as pit foreman of the 
Mountain Iron Mine. Later he was made mining captain of the Hig- 
gins Mine, and succeeding that was mining captain of the Norman Mine 
of the Oliver Iron Mining Company. 

In April, 1913, on the recommendation of the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company, Mr. David was sent to Russia to be superintendent of the 
Caucasas Copper Company's mines in Asiatic Russia. The great bank- 
ing house of J. P. Morgan & Company was financially interested in these 
properties, and he remained there two years, until the Turkish invasion 
of the Caucasus Region in November, 1914, stopped the mining. t opera- 
tions. From the beginning of the World war until it became absolutely 
necessary for the staff of the company to make a sudden exodus more 
or less excitement prevailed every day, though the staff members, com- 
posed of English, Scotch and American, made every effort against great 
odds to keep the mines and smelters in operation with a maximum pro- 
duction of refined copper, so greatly and urgently needed by the Allies. 

Mr. David returned to the United States on December 24, 1914, and 
in February. 1915, was made mining captain of the Leonard and Alex- 
andria Mines of the Arthur Mining Company at Chisholm, Minnesota. 
Clement K. Quinn subsequently engaged him as general superintendent, 
and in that capacity he developed properties which he had acquired on 
the Cuyuna and Mesaba Ranges. August 1, 1918, Mr. David became 
assistant general superintendent for Pickands, Mather & Company, and 
November 15th of the same year was made general superintendent, the 
office he has since filled. He is a member of the Engineers' Club of 
Northern Minnesota. 

Januarv 11, 1911. Mr. David married Miss Margaret Champion, of 
Loretto, Michigan. They have two children. The older. May A., was 



1160 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

born October 7, 1911. at Virginia, Minnesota. Tbe son, Lawrence J., was 
born August 26. 1914. at Alexandrovsky, Russia. Mr. David is a 
Republican, is a member of Eveleth Lodge No. 239. Ancient Free and 
Accepted Masons, is a charter member of Virginia Chapter No. 77, 
Royal Arch Masons, a member of Duluth Consistory No. 3 of the Scot- 
tish Rite and Aad Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a charter member, 
of Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity at Case School of Applied 
Science at Cleveland, is a member of the Eshquaguma Club, and is inter- 
ested in civic affairs, being a director of the Curling Club and director 
of the Gilbert Commercial Club. 

Frederick Barrett, M. D. An accomplished physician and surgeon 
and public health leader. Doctor Barrett has lived in the mining districts 
of northern Minnesota .since boyhood, and for over a quarter of a cen- 
tury has practiced medicine and surgery. He was a medical officer in the 
army during the World war. 

Doctor Barrett, whose home is at Gilbert, was born in Liberty, Mis- 
sissippi, September 17, 1875. His father, Frederick Barrett, Sr.. a native 
of Pennsylvania, served as a Union soldier in the Eighty-second Pennsyl- 
vania Infantry during the Civil war, and after the war became a revenue 
officer in the south during the reconstruction period. He was also a 
county superintendent of schools and private secretary to the governor 
of Mississippi. After returning to the north he lived in Wisconsin until 
1888. when he moved his family to Tower, Minnesota. He at once 
became one of the influential men in the Iron Range. He published the 
Vermillion Iron Journal, the Ely Iron Home, and was publisher of the 
first paper at Merritt, the first town on the Mesaba Range. Though he 
died at Duluth May 17, 1895, his name is still spoken with honor through- 
out St. Louis County. 

Dr. Frederick Barrett was twelve years of age when brought to 
Tower, acquired a public school education, graduated in 1893 from Breck 
College at Wilder, Minnesota, and began the study of medicine under 
Doctor Harwood at Tower. In 1897 he graduated from Rush Medical 
College in Chicago, following which he practiced at Tower two months, 
six months in the Virginia Hospital, was associated with Doctor More 
of Eveleth a year and a half, and for ten years was with his old pre- 
ceptor. Doctor Harwood, in the Fayal Hospital. Since then Doctor Bar- 
rett has practiced in Gilbert. While at Fayal he served two years as a 
member of the Board of Supervisors of the township, was health officer 
at Eveleth. and since coming to Gilbert has been deputy county coroner. 
He was elected and for several years past has been president of the 
village of Gilbert. 

Doctor Barrett is a member of the County and State Medical Societies 
and the American Medical Association. His experience and special 
talents have brought him distinct fame as an obstetrician, and he has 
prepared many papers on obstetrics for medical journals. He has been 
the professional attendant at more than twenty-two hundred births. 
Doctor Barrett was in the service of the Government in the Medical 
Corps for thirteen months, first as lieutenant, then as captain, and after 
the close of the war was commissioned major in the Medical Reserve 
Corps. He received his medical officer's training at Fort Riley, Kansas, 
and his chief duty was at Camp Lewis, Washington, where he had com- 
mand of the Motor Ambulance Company in the sanitary train. 

Doctor Barrett is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, is a 
member of the Episcopal Church, and a Republican in politics. On 
August 25, 1904, he married Edith Smith, of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. 
He has one son, John Frederick. 




c> 



■ 

/ 




DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1161 

Fermanah P. Rutherford has been in the great mining district of 
northern Michigan and northern Minnesota for over thirty years, and 
has had an interesting variety of experience. For a number of years 
past he has been chief clerk at the Elba Mine of Pickands. Mather & 
Company for the Eastern Mesaba District. 

The Rutherford family has a conspicuous record in war as well as 
in peace. Three of Mr. Rutherford's sons were gallant soldiers in the 
World war. The Rutherfords originally were Scotch, but for several gen- 
erations the family have lived in the North of Ireland. His grandfather, 
Adam Rutherford, served as an officer in the British army and partici- 
pated in the battle of Waterloo. One of his great-grandsons just a cen- 
tury later was wounded not far from the Waterloo battlefield. Adam 
Rutherford late in life brought his family from Ireland to Canada. He 
was a pensioner of the British Government and came to Canada to take 
possession of a grant of land conferred on him by the British Crown. 

His son, David Rutherford, was born in Ireland, and married Mar- 
garet McKnight, a native of the same country. David Rutherford was 
twelve years of age when his people came to Canada, and as a youth he 
became a logger and for many years was engaged in lumber operations 
in Canada. He and his wife are both deceased, but of their ten chil- 
dren nine are still living. 

One of these is Fermanah P. Rutherford, who was born at Owen 
Sound, Ontario, April 14, 1868. He grew up in Canada, was educated 
in public schools, also had a commercial course, and was eighteen when 
he first came to the United States. His first employment was hauling 
wood for a steam engine on the Gogebic Range of northern Michigan. 
Then followed other occupations, including merchandising, service as 
assistant postmaster at Ironwood, and as railroad messenger for the 
United States Express Company on the Northwestern Railway. 

At Ironwood, Michigan, October 13, 1892, Mr. Rutherford married 
Francis Elkerton. For about six years following he operated a store at 
Hurley. From that he entered the service of the Oliver Iron Mining 
Company as clerk in the Tilden Mine at Bessemer, and then as cashier 
of the Forest Mine near Iron Mountain. Mr. Rutherford came to 
Eveleth, Minnesota, in 1902 as assistant chief clerk for- the Oliver Iron 
Mining Company, and in 1907 began the duties he has since performed 
as chief clerk at the Elba Mine for Pickands, Mather & Company. 

His friends and associates know him as a man of vigorous action 
and good citizenship. During the World war he was a member of the 
Minnesota Home Guards and is still a member of that organization, 
which performed some valuable service in wartime in suppressing sedi- 
tion. From 1908 to 1919 he was clerk of the Mesaba Mountain town- 
ship, and since 1910 has been a member of the Board of Directors of 
Independent School District No. 18. Mr. Rutherford is a Republican, 
an elder in the Presbyterian Church, is the fifteenth to hold the office of 
worshipful master of Eveleth Lodge No. 239, Ancient Free and Accepted 
Masons, and is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows and the Knights of Pythias. 

The three sons and one daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford are 
Harold McKnight, Cyril F., D. Dewey and Jean. This was one of the 
few families in northern Minnesota to contribute all its sons to the war. 
Harold was in the Twenty-seventh Engineers, Dewey, in the One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-sixth Regiment of Infantry, while Cyril was in the 
British army. The first two saw active service in France. Harold, who 
held the non-commissioned office of sergeant, was twice wounded in the 
engagement at Vilesnes-sur-Meuse when within the German lines. 



1162 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Norris J. Colvin has been a member of the Range country of north- 
ern Minnesota for twenty-eight years, has seen practically all the pioneer 
development of several sections, and has been a busy factor, achieving 
definite success for himself and contributing something to the welfare 
of his community. He has been a resident of Gilbert for twelve years, 
practically since the beginning of the village, and is an executive officer 
in one of the largest lumber, fuel and building material concerns in this 
part of the state. 

He is a native of Minnesota, born near Monticello March 13. 1870, 
one of seven children, four of whom are still living. His parents were 
Jacob James and Anna Eliza (Griswold) Colvin. His father in early 
life was a school teacher and farmer, and later a carpenter. While 
working at his trade in the erection of some of the large terminal build- 
ings in Kansas City he was accidentally killed in 1885. His widow is 
still living and now makes her home at Los Angeles, California. 

Norris J. Colvin has been a life-long resident of Minnesota. When 
he was four years of age his parents moved to Anoka, where he attended 
the graded schools. He was fifteen when his father died, and soon after- 
ward the family moved to Duluth and later lived in other places. For 
several years Norris Colvin was at Minneapolis in the employ of a large 
carpet concern. 

His association with the Range country began in October, 1893. at 
Biwabik, where his brother was in the lumber business in partnership 
with James A. Robb. Later the business was incorporated as the Colvin- 
Robb Lumber Company, Norris Colvin becoming an official of the corpo- 
ration. A reincorporation was effected in 1916 under the title of the 
Northern Lumber & Coal Company. This business is now a widespread 
commercial enterprise conducting seven yards, at Aurora, Biwabik, 
Eveleth. Hibbing. Gary and Gilbert in Minnesota, and at South Superior 
in Wisconsin. Norris J. Colvin has been the firm's representative at 
Gilbert since the spring of 1908, and he established a yard and sold some 
of the first lumber and building material used in the pioneer construc- 
tion of the town. Altogether his life on the Mesaba Range has been 
coextensive with the principal period of development in this section. As 
a good business man he has been looked to for leadership in Gilbert. 
He is a Republican, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is affili- 
ated with the Knights of Pythias. 

On August 20. 1902, Mr. Colvin married Miss Clara West, of Gales- 
burg, Illinois. Their children are Francis West. Marion Ruth, Betty 
Elizabeth and Clara Louise. 

Carlton A. Webb, the efficient and popular station agent for the 
Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad in the village of Mountain Iron, 
claims the fine old Gopher state as the place of his nativity, he having 
been born at St. Paul, the capital city of Minnesota, on the 24th of Feb- 
ruary, 1885. His father, Isaac W. Webb, was born at Salem, Ohio, and 
became a pioneer settler in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, where he took 
up his residence in the year 1852 and became bookkeeper in the Ameri- 
can House, one of the early hotels of the capital city. Later he became 
one of the principals in the firm of Cook & Webb, which established 
and operated an omnibus line in that city, and finally he purchased a 
large tract of land near Crookston, this state, and instituted the develop- 
ment of a farm. Eventually he returned to St. Paul and engaged in the 
real estate business. Both he and his wife died in St. Paul. Mrs. Webb, 
whose maiden name was Edna Parker, was born at Wheeling, Illinois, 
of English parentage. 



L 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1163 

Carlton A. Webb, the youngest in a family of nine children, gained 
his early education in the public schools of St. Paul, where he was 
graduated in the Mechanic Arts High School as a member of the class 
of 1905. Thereafter he was employed about one year as clerk in the 
office of the Gotzin Shoe Company at St. Paul, and for the ensuing two 
years held a clerical position in the general offices of the Great Northern 
Railroad in his native city. After learning telegraphy he was assigned 
by this company to the position of telegraph operator at Buhl, and about 
four months later was transferred to Virginia, St. Louis County, where 
he served as cashier at the Great Northern Station for one year. During 
the ensuing three years he was station agent at Bovey, and he then 
accepted the position of relief agent in the service of the Minnesota 
& Northern Railroad. In September, 1913, he came to Mountain Iron, 
where he has since continued in effective service as station agent for 
the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad, with all departments under 
excellent systematization and with service that marks him as a most 
efficient executive and one whose personal popularity is of unequivocal 
order. Mr. Webb has taken loyal interest in the welfare and advance- 
ment of Mountain Iron, where he served two terms, 1915-17, as village 
clerk, was elected village president in March, 1921, and has served as a 
member of the municipal finance committee and as a valued member 
of the Board of Education, of which he was a director in 1918, chair- 
man in 1919, and of which he is clerk at the time of this writing, in 
1920. He is a Republican of independent proclivities, is a thirty-second 
degree Mason and a member of Aad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order 
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Duluth. He and his wife hold mem- 
bership in the Presbyterian Church. In the World war period Mr. 
Webb gave every possible aid in furtherance of the Governmental loan 
drives in St. Louis County by personally taking subscriptions for the 
loans and the savings stamps and by active membership in the Defense 
League. 

July 20, 1910, recorded the marriage of Mr. Webb to Miss Ethel 
G. Wescott, who was born at Altoona, Wisconsin, of Scotch and English 
lineage, and their one child, Edna Grace, was born February 15, 1913. 

John C. McGilvery. For a number of years John C. McGilvery 
has figured prominently as a lawyer, public official and man of affairs 
in the Iron Range district of northern Minnesota. He has had a large 
law practice, and has also played an important constructive part in 
the business and civic affairs of this section of the state. He was 
appointed justice of the peace in 1898, and the Governor of the state 
appointed him the first municipal judge at Eveleth. For two years he 
was United States commissioner, has served as village attorney for 
Aurora, Biwabik, Gilbert and Costin. is now village attorney of Leonidas, 
and is in his third term as attorney for the city of Eveleth. He was 
attorney for the Charter Commission of Eveleth when the commission 
form of government was inaugurated. 

Mr. McGilvery is a stockholder and vice president of the Miners 
National Bank of Eveleth, and has some very extensive realty, interests 
in St. Louis and other counties. He is a Republican, a Presbyterian, 
is an active member and for three years was president of the Eveleth 
Commercial Club, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks. 

William W. Weber, M. D., is a young man whose character and 
ability have given him distinct prestige as one of the representative 
physicians and surgeons of St. Louis County, and he is engaged in the 



1164 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

successful practice of his profession at Mountain Iron. In addition to his 
private practice, which is of substantial order, he is associated in a pro- 
fessional way with the Shaw Hospital at Buhl. He was in service as 
a member of the medical corps of the United States Army at the 
time of the nation's participation in the World war, and prior to coming 
to Minnesota he had unusual experience both in his present profession 
and in connection with educational affairs. 

Dr. Weber was born at Iowa City, Iowa, on the 26th of March, 1887, 
and is the eldest of the four children of William W. and Clara (Harring- 
ton) Weber, the former of whom was born at Baltimore, Maryland, 
July 5, 1862, and the latter of whom was born near Williamsburg, 
Iowa. November 15, 1867, she being a representative of one of the 
sterling pioneer families of that section of the Hawkeye state. The 
parents of Dr. Weber still reside in Iowa City, where the father is 
living virtually retired after many years of application to the sturdy 
trade of blacksmith. 

In the public schools of his native city Dr. Weber continued his 
studies until his graduation from high school in 1906, and thereafter 
he was for two years a teacher in the Institute Americano at La Paz, 
Bolivia, where he was retained by the Bolivian government to assist in 
instituting American educational methods in the schools of that South 
American nation. Upon his return to his home city, the seat of the 
University of Iowa, Dr. Weber entered the medical department of that 
institution, where he continued his technical studies three years. He 
was then tendered and accepted the position of house physician at the 
hospital of the Medical College of Kansas City, Missouri, in which 
institution he became a member of the senior class and continued his 
medical studies while acting also as house physician at the hospital 
and as demonstrator of anatomy in the college. He was graduated 
from this college as a member of the class of 1912. and after thus 
receiving his degree of doctor of medicine he engaged in the private 
practice of his profession at Leon, Kansas. In the summer of the fol- 
lowing year he transferred his field of professional work to Hartford, 
that state, where he continued in practice until August 19, 1917, when 
he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the medical corps of the 
United States Army and assigned to Fort Riley. Kansas, to receive pre- 
liminary training. There he remained until the 21st of January, 1918, 
when he was honorably discharged, owing to physical disability. It 
was a matter of extreme regret to him that he was not permitted to 
continue his service in connection with the military activities of his 
country in the climacteric period of the World war. 

In April, 1918, Dr. Weber received appointment to the staff of Shaw 
Hospital at Buhl, Minnesota, where he initiated his effective service 
in the following month and where he remained until June. 1919, when 
he engaged in private practice at Mountain Iron, though still continuing 
his association with Dr. Shaw at Buhl. He has charge of the medical 
and surgical work at the mines in the vicinity of Mountain Iron, besides 
which his general practice is of representative order. He is health officer 
at Mountain Iron, and also official phvsician of the village schools. The 
Doctor is an active member of the St. Louis County Medical Society, 
the Minnesota State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- 
tion. He is affiliated with the Epsilon Chapter of the Phi Alpha Gamma 
medical college fraternity, and also with the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

March 27, 1912, recorded the marriage of Dr. Weber to Miss Delia 
E. Morrison, who was born in the State of Oklahoma, and they have 
three fine little sons — W'illiam M., Donald P. and fohn L. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1165 

Frank W. Canute, who holds the responsible position of master 
mechanic for the Hanna Mining Company, eastern district, with residence 
and business headquarters at Mountain Iron, was born at Berlin, Michi- 
gan, on the 30th of June, 1872, and is a son of George H. and Mary M. 
(Schell) Canute, both natives of the state of New York, where the former 
was born in the year 1830 and the latter in 1838. Their son Frank is the 
fourth in their family of seven children. 

Frank W. Canute gained his early education in the public schools of 
his native state and was graduated in the Traverse high school as a mem- 
ber of the class of 1889. During the summer seasons he had worked in 
the lumber mills while still attending school, and after leaving the high 
school he was employed in the saw mill operated by his father, this asso- 
ciation continuing until about the year 1891. Thereafter he was employed 
about eighteen months in the Michigan Orphan Asylum at Traverse City, 
and later was employed in various saw mills in that section of the 
Wolverine state. Finally he became engineer of a locomotive on a logging 
railroad, in the employ of A. F. Anderson & Company at South Borden, 
Michigan, and in February, 1906, came to Crookston, Minnesota, where 
he was given night charge of the saw mill of the Crookston Lumber Com- 
pany. In the following spring the company transferred him to Folds, 
this state, and assigned him to the position of locomotive engineer on 
the logging road. After thus serving about one year he was for two 
months employed by Cook & O'Brien at Virginia, Minnesota, and in the 
following summer had charge of the erection of two small rotary mills 
at Angora. There he continued in charge of sawmill operations for 
Clifford Sherman until the following spring, when he took the position of 
foreman for the Keewadin Lumber Company, with which he thus con- 
tinued his connection at Ontario to the following November. He next 
gave about eighteen months of effective service as sawyer for the Inter- 
national Lumber Company at International Falls, for which corporation 
he constructed hoists and a lumber camp. 

In July, 1912, Mr. Canute removed with his family to Mountain Iron, 
his family having in the meanwhile resided at Virginia, and it was at this 
time that he entered the employ of the Hanna Mining Company at the 
Brunt Mine. He was first assigned to the charge of the steam plant of 
the drying establishment, which was then in course of construction, and 
in the winter of the same year went to Baudette, Minnesota, to assist in 
the erection of a mill for the Engler Lumber Company. In May, 1913, 
he returned to the Brunt Mine, where he was in charge of the work of 
the repair crew until the close of the ensuing winter. In the spring he 
was placed in charge of the drying plant, to which he gave his attention 
for the following two years. In the spring of 1916 he was appointed 
master mechanic for the eastern district of the Hanna Mining Company, 
and of this position he has since continued the efficient, valued and popu- 
lar incumbent. He is one of. the prominent and public-spirited citizens of 
Mountain Iron, where he is serving as chairman of the Board of Educa- 
tion. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the 
Knights of the Maccabees, and in politics is a Republican, though not 
constrained by partisan lines in local affairs. During America's participa- 
tion in the World war he was an active executive and worker in connection 
with the Liberty Loan drives and had charge of the Victory Loan drive 
in the Hanna Mining Company's eastern district. 

May 3, 1893, recorded the marriage of Mr. Canute to Miss Alice M. 
Elliott, of Bay City, Michigan, and they have one child, Harry D., who is 
now employed as a locomotive engineer in connection with his father's 
department of business activities. 



1166 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Stanley A. Mahox is a young man whose sterling character and 
marked executive ability need no further voucher than the statement that 
he is assistant general superintendent of the Hanna Mines, eastern district, 
with residence and official headquarters at Mountain Iron. 

Mr. Mahon was born at Minden City, Michigan, on the 14th of 
December, 1884, and is a son of Edward and Sophia (Geek) Mahon, the 
former of whom was born at Tilsonburg. Province of Ontario, Canada, 
in 1844, of English and Irish lineage, and the latter of whom was born 
in the city of Rochester, New York, in 1859, her ancestral lines tracing 
to English and German origin. The marriage of the parents was solemn- 
ized in 1880, and their son Stanley is the second of their three children. 
The father was twenty years of age when he came from Canada to the 
United States, where he became a naturalized citizen. The major part 
of his active career was given to farm industry. 

After having duly profited by the advantages offered in the public 
schools of his native village Stanley A. Mahon completed a course in the 
Ferris Institute, an excellent preparatory and business school at Big 
Rapids, Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class 
of 1906. For six months after leaving school he was employed as a 
diamond drill man for the Longyear and Hodge Company in the iron 
mines of northern Michigan, and thereafter he was similarly employed 
in connection with construction' work on the great New York aqueduct 
until 1908. With a well ordered ambition and determination to further 
his technical education Mr. Mahon then entered the Michigan College of 
Mines at Houghton, and in this celebrated institution was graduated as a 
member of the class of 1911 and with the degree of Mining Engineer. 
For six months after his graduation he held the position of assistant cap- 
tain of underground operations at the American Mine of the M. A. Hanna 
Company on the Marquette Range, and the ensuing six months found him 
employed in the concentrating plant of this company. He then went to 
Nashwauk and engaged in experimental work at the LaRue Mine, where 
he remained until the autumn of 1914. He then entered the service of the 
Wakefield Iron Company at Wakefield, Michigan, where he served as 
ground captain one year. For two years thereafter he was again asso- 
ciated with the LaRue Mine, first in connection with rebuilding opera- 
tions and later in charge of the concentrating plant. Thereafter he opened 
and had charge of the Hobart Mine at Gilbert, Minnesota, and in 1918 he 
assumed the professional and executive office of which he is now the able 
and valued incumbent. In January, 1919, the Hanna Mineral Company 
sent him to Georgia to assume the position of superintendent of a pyrites 
mine, and soon after completing his service there he resumed his position 
in Minnesota, where he is superintendent of the Pilot, Hobart, Fay, Sliver 
and Brunt Mines. Mr. Mahon has gained high rank in the technical and 
practical work of his profession and is a prominent figure in connection 
with the iron mining industry in this section of Minnesota. 

AtHibbing, this state, Mr. Mahon maintains affiliation with York Rite 
bodies of Freemasonry, and in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, he is affiliated 
with the Scottish Rite and also the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is an 
independent Republican and he is a Protestant in religious faith. At the 
time of the World war he signified to the Government his willingness to 
enlist for active service, but the authorities decided that his services were 
of greater value in connection with the productive enterprise with which 
he was identified. He, however, gave most vigorous and loyal co-opera- 
tion in the furtherance of local war activities and made liberal subscrip- 
tions to the various Liberty Loans and other war agencies. 






TIL! 




1/2* £/c?644 /ctZctsO^**^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1167 

On August 2, 1916, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Mahon to Miss 
Aileen Hunter, of Akeley, Minnesota, she being a representative of a 
family whose name has been long and worthily identified with American 
annals. Mr. and Mrs. Mahon have two children : Phyllis, born June 22, 
1917, and Stanley A., Jr., born June 30, 1919. The pleasant family home 
is at Mountain Iron, and Mrs. Mahon is a popular factor in the social 
life of the community. 

Marvin V. Van Buskirk. The career of the late Marvin Van 
Buskirk was one in which his experiences were varied and interesting, 
carrying him into strange and unexplored parts of the country and bring- 
ing him eventually to a well-earned success and the respect of his fellow 
citizens. This pioneer of the Mesaba Range, whose death occurred at 
Eveleth January 22, 1904, was born at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, December 23, 
1851, and that city continued to be his home until he was about eighteen 
years of age. His early life was spent much after the manner of the' 
average boy of his day, although perhaps he was permeated with a greater 
love of adventure than were the most of his companions. He excelled 
in mathematics, and because of this fact assisted the surveyors to a con- 
siderable extent, and also worked in a sawmill, and by reason of his 
industry and ability was advanced to the post of manager. 

In the early days of the Gogebic Range of northern Michigan, Mr. 
Van Buskirk spent two years there as a timber cruiser, and during this 
time lived with the Indians, learned their language, and was given the 
name of "Mokineese." For a time he had charge of some logging camps, 
and then became the first white settler of Crystal Falls, Michigan. On 
December 15, 1883, he married Anna Harding, a native of Madison, Wis- 
consin. At Crystal Falls, Mr. Van Buskirk learned the painter's trade, 
and after working at that vocation for a time became the first chief of 
police of his town. Following this, he devoted some time to exploring, 
and while thus engaged, in 1890, came to what is now the site of Eveleth, 
although at that time such a place did not exist. After being employed 
as a prospector for a time, in 1893 Mr. Van Buskirk brought his family 
to Eveleth, and their first home here was a tent, while the last stage of 
their journey, from Auburn, had to be made on a single trail, as the road 
was still incomplete. Shortly afterward Mr. Van Buskirk had a log cabin 
erected for his family, and this continued as their home for some years. 

Mr. Van Buskirk put in the greater part of his time during this period 
in exploring, but he also devoted a part of his time to the painting trade. 
He also had charge of test pits and tramped over practically the entire 
surrounding country, being employed as an explorer by all the well known 
men of the Range. When Eveleth began to assume the importance of a 
metropolis he was elected the first village president, and likewise became 
the first chief of the local volunteer fire department. 

Mr. Van Buskirk was a man of marked characteristics. He was quiet, 
inoffensive and unassuming, but a man of unquestioned courage. He had 
a wonderful faculty of making and retaining friends, to whom, when 
occasion offered, he was generous to a fault. In fact this peculiarity was 
so marked that it was often taken advantage of by the unscrupulous as a 
means to defraud him of honest and hard earned money. He contributed 
with more than ordinary liberality to the support of all good causes, and 
while he was not a member of any religious denomination he had a 
devout reverence for sacred things. Late in life he organized a local body 
of men and as the representative of this body went to Idaho and selected 
timber claims for the individual members. At the present time these 
properties have greatly enhanced in value. Mr. Van Buskirk was a 



1168 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Republican in politics. He and his widow, who survives him, had eight 
children, all of whom survive. 

Anthony John Van Buskirk, the eldest son of Marvin V. and 
Anna (Harding) Van Buskirk, was born at Crystal Falls, Michigan, 
November 5, 1890, but his entire life, practically, has been passed at 
Eveleth. When his people came here he was the only boy in the little 
community, and as he grew up he attended the public schools, being grad- 
uated from the Eveleth High School with the class of 1909. For a time 
he was employed in a clerical capacity by the Miners National Bank, 
subsequently being timekeeper in the mines and later shipping clerk, etc. 
He became deputy city clerk in 1916, and served as such by appointment 
until January 6, 1920, since which time he has been city clerk. He has 
been very active in local athletics and has been instrumental in keeping 
athletic sports alive in his town. In 1908 he became a charter member of 
Company F, Minnesota National Guard, and in 1915 was commissioned 
a lieutenant of this organization by the Governor and sent to the Mexican 
border, where he remained seven months. He resigned his commission 
at the end of that time, but subsequently served as captain of a local motor 
corps and also helped train troops for the World war. 

Mr. Van Buskirk, who has a number of important connections at 
Eveleth, is unmarried and resides at home with his aged mother. 

John Glode has been well known in the life of the Range country for 
nearly thirty years, as landlord of two of the popular houses of public 
entertainment for nearly a quarter of a century, but for several years 
past has been the efficient chief of police of the city of Eveleth. 

Arthur G. Kingston is one of the real pioneers of the Range country 
in northern Minnesota, having been identified with the section for the 
past thirty years. He was a merchant for a long time, but finally turned 
his resources and personal initiative to what might be called the conserva- 
tion side of mining operations, and has demonstrated a high degree of 
profit and production through his operations. 

Mr. Kingston, whose home is at Eveleth, is a native of Minnesota, 
born in Goodhue County, May 15, 1857. That date indicates that the 
family were territorial pioneers of Minnesota. His father, DeWitt 
Clinton Kingston, was born in Michigan and first came to Minnesota in 
1855. In 1858 he settled in the state permanently. He married Mary 
Jane Holiday. DeWitt C. Kingston pre-empted land in Goodhue County 
and went through all the experiences and hardships of pioneering, ran 
the risk and dangers of Indian depredations and was a real frontiersman. 

One of eight children, Arthur G. Kingston, had to adapt himself to 
the limitations of a home of thrift and meager circumstances in the 
northwest. He lived on his father's farm to the age of thirteen, in the 
meantime attending district school in winter, and has been a worker ever 
since he had sufficient age and strength to be assigned regular duties. 
From the age of thirteen to seventeen he employed his time more or less 
regularly as a clerk. At seventeen he went into business for himself at 
Northfield, and in 1882 became a merchant at Fisher, Minnesota, where 
he was located until he came to the Iron Range district at Tower in 
July, 1891. Mr. Kingston was a merchant at Tower for nine years, and 
since 1900 his home and headquarters have been at Eveleth, where he 
continued in merchandising for about four years. 

He then invested his capital and enterprise in contracting, owning and 
operating a steam shovel outfit at the mines. He has done mining at 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1169 

several of the old works in the Iron Range district. In several cases he 
has taken contracts to strip where previous operations had all been by 
the underground method of mining. In fact, he was identified with the 
pioneer stripping operations, and has demonstrated the safe and profitable 
side of that strictly modern feature of ore mining. 

In 1915 Mr. Kingston organized the Kingston Mining Company, and 
since then organized the Rutland Mining Company and the Fault Mining 
Company. These concerns are operating two mines at Eveleth and one 
at Chisholm, also one near Mesaba, and the business is one employing 
on an average 150 men. Mr. Kingston has worked a large force con- 
tinuously for the past fifteen years. 

Politically he is an independent Democrat. While living at Tower he 
served as a member of the City Council. He is a member of the Presby- 
terian Church and the Commercial Club of Eveleth. In October, 1877, 
he married Lestina Lovering. They have two sons, William A. and 
Merton, and one daughter, Lina, Mrs. R. M. Cornwell. 

Charles R. McCann, of the contracting company of Lawrence & 
McCann, Eveleth, is one of the substantial business men of St. Louis 
County who has helped to make several communities progressive and 
enterprising centers of the mining industry. Strangers visiting Eveleth, 
Gilbert, Biwabik, Aurora and other towns of this locality are impressed 
at once with the substantial condition of the streets, alleys, sewers and 
water works — unfailing evidence of prosperity and good management — 
and for these municipal virtues Mr. McCann is largely responsible, as his 
firm is an extensive contractor in these lines. 

Mr. McCann was born'at Springdale, Iowa, January 26, 1884, a son 
of Harry and Delilah (Maxson) McCann, the former a farmer and later 
a blacksmith by occupation. One of four children, Charles R. McCann 
was reared at Springdale, where he was graduated from the high school 
in 1903, at which time he entered the engineering department of the Iowa 
State University at Iowa City and was graduated in 1907. He began his 
business career in the employ of a general contractor at Minneapolis, but 
three years later transferred his activities to Duluth, where he entered the 
service of Pastorer & Lawrence, with whom he remained for about two 
years. In January, 1913, was organized the firm of Lawrence & McCann, 
and for a year James H. Lunz was a member of the concern. The 
company began business at Eveleth, and has continued here ever since, its 
offices being in the First National Bank Building. They confine their 
activities largely to doing contract work in road grading and paving, city 
street and alley work of all kinds, water works and sewers and general 
construction connected with these lines. Their work has included all the 
paved streets of Eveleth, Gilbert, Biwabik and Aurora, and they have 
likewise extended their activities to Virginia, Mountain Iron and Buhl, 
having also constructed sewers and water works for these places. 

Mr. McCann is a member of the local Commercial Club, is a Knight 
Templar and York Rite Mason, a thirty-second degree Ancient Arabic 
Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, and a member of 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was married January 6, 
1912, to Miss Delia Edna Worrall, of West Branch, Iowa, and to them 
five children have been born : Dorothy, Joseph, Margaret, Katherine (who 
is deceased) and Barbara. Mr. and Mrs. McCann are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

William R. Van Slyke has been a resident of the Range country in 
northern Minnesota for the past fifteen years, is a mining engineer by 



1170 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

training and profession, and has responsible duties in connection with the 
mining interests grouped at Eveleth, his home. 

Mr. Van Slyke was born at New Paris, Indiana, April 18, 1883. His 
grandfather, William Nelson Van Slyke, was a pioneer of northern Ohio 
and a ship carpenter by trade. William R. Van Slyke is a son of Rev. 
William M. and Josephine (Suman) Van Slyke. His father was a 
Methodist minister and spent the years of his active career in the 
itinerant and pastoral work of the church. 

William R. Van Slyke grew up in northern Indiana and southern 
Michigan, attending the public schools in several localities. He was a 
student in the engineering department of the University of Michigan 
one year, and acquired his technical education by three years in the 
Michigan College of Mines at Houghton. Soon after graduating in 
June, 1905, he came direct to Eveleth, and has performed the duties of 
assistant engineer and fee agent for various estates. Since 1910 he has 
been the engineer in active charge of fee interests at Eveleth. 

Mr. Van Slyke is a member of the Engineers Club of Northern Minne- 
sota, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 
belongs to the Rotary and Commercial Clubs of Eveleth, and has taken 
an interest in all movements for conimunity welfare. Since July, 1917, 
he has been a member of the Eveleth School Board. 

Victor E. Essling is not only one of the representative younger 
members of the bar of St. Louis County but also has the distinction of 
being mayor of the vigorous little city of Eveleth at the time of this 
writing, in the spring of 1921. Still further interest attaches to his 
status in the community by reason of the fact that he claims Minnesota 
as the place of his nativity. He was born at St. Peter, Nicollet County, 
this state, on the 15th of May, 1891, and is a son of Joel E. and 
Magdalena M. (Schulz) Essling, both of whom were born in Sweden. 
Magdalena M. Essling was a resident of Nicollet County at the time of 
her death, when comparatively a young woman, and her husband subse- 
quently contracted a second marriage, he being now a resident of 
St. Peter, Minnesota. Joel E. Essling was a son of Gustaf Johnson, but 
the ancient custom governing family names in Scandinavia was abandoned 
by this family upon coming to the United States, where the patronymic 
was changed to the present form, Essling, Gustaf Johnson immigrated 
to this country in 1866 and established the family home in the vicinity of 
St. Peter, Minnesota, where he became a pioneer homesteader, landholder 
and farmer, St. Peter having at that time been under favorable considera- 
tion in connection with being chosen capital of this commonwealth. He 
obtained Government land by homestead, and lived up to the full tension 
of the pioneer days, when advantages were meager and when Indians 
were still numerous in the county where he established his home. 

The childhood and early youth of Victor E. Essling were compassed 
by the activities and influences of the old home farm, and in the public 
schools of his native county he continued his studies until he was gradu- 
ated in the St. Peter High School as a member of the class of 1909. 
Subsequently he there continued his studies in Gustavus Adolphus 
College, spending one year along academic lines preparing himself for the 
profession of his choice. He entered the St. Paul College of Law, in 
which he continued his studies two years, in the night classes. He then 
successfully passed the state examination and was duly admitted to the 
Minnesota bar in February, 1915. He immediately came to St. Louis 
County and initiated the practice of his profession at Eveleth, where since 
October, 1919, he has been a member of the representative law firm of 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1171 

Essling & Trost, with offices in the Miners National Bank Building. The 
firm controls a substantial and important law business, and the senior 
member has gained secure status as a resourceful trial lawyer and well 
fortified counsellor. When the nation became involved in the World war, 
Mr. Essling entered the military service, but the armistice brought the 
war to a close before he could be sent with his command to the stage 
of conflict. 

The mayor of Eveleth is a staunch advocate of the cause of the 
Republican party, is a valued member of the Eveleth Commercial Club, is 
affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, is a communicant of the Swedish Lutheran Church, in 
which he still holds membership in the church at St. Peter, Nicollet 
County. He was elected mayor of Eveleth in November, 1919, and has 
given a most vigorous, progressive and satisfactory administration. 

July 9, 1914, recorded the marriage of Mr. Essling to Miss Marjorie 
M. McGrath, and they have two children, William Warren and Mark 
Theodore. 

Charles Jesmore, the efficient postmaster of Eveleth. has in his 
administration fully justified his appointment to this office in the Gov- 
ernment service, and he is a man who commands the unqualified esteem 
of the communitv which he thus serves. He was born at Oswego, New 
York, November 15, 1850, and is a son of John and Victoria (DeLoram) 
Jesmore. The father, who had long been identified with farm enterprise, 
removed in the '70s to Saginaw, Michigan, where both he and his wife 
passed the remainder of their lives. 

Charles Jesmore, the fourth in order of birth in a family of five chil- 
dren, gained his early education in the schools of the old Empire state, 
and he was but thirteen years of age when he made a surreptitious depart- 
ure from the parental home and found employment as a driver on the 
tow path of the Erie Canal. When fifteen years of age, just prior to the 
surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, he had enlisted for service as 
a youthful soldier of the Union in the Civil war, but the war having thus 
closed he was never mustered in. 

In 1867 Mr. Jesmore made his way to Michigan and found employ- 
ment in connection with the great lumber industry, which was then at its 
zenith in that state. He worked in the logging camps and sawmills in 
the northern part of Michigan for ten years, and in 1877 became a pioneer 
of St. Louis County, Minnesota, where for several years he gave much 
of his time and attention to assisting settlers in making their locations. 
In this early day he assisted also, as a foreman, in the construction of 
the road from the little village of Tower to the Itasca county line, the 
road running along the Bear River. He recalls with pleasing memory 
that the country hereabouts was then the home of all kinds of wild game 
in great numbers, including deer, moose, bear and the smaller game ani- 
mals and game birds, the while the waters of the locality teemed with 
the finest of fish. 

Mr. Jesmore became associated with O. W. Sanders in logging opera- 
tions, in which they continued one year, Mr. Jesmore having within this 
period taken out the first timber on Willow Creek. During one winter 
he put 8,000,000 feet of logs into Longyear Lake at Chisholm. This 
timber was taken from the site of the present McKinley Mine. 

It was in the year 1889 that Mr. Jesmore made his initial appearance 
in the Mesaba Range country, where mining operations were just begin- 
ning to assume important proportions. In January of the following year 
he established his residence at Eveleth, then a mining camp of some six 

Vol. Ill— 16 



1172 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

or more buildings, and here he opened the McNinnis Hotel, the first in 
the town. This hotel building now stands at the southeast corner of 
Grant avenue and Jackson street and is a landmark of the early days. 
Mr. Jesmore conducted the hotel about eighteen months, and in the mean- 
while opened and conducted a livery barn. He continued the livery busi- 
ness until 1914. At the time of the memorable gold rush to Gold Island 
he established a bus line to operate from the head of Vermillion River 
to Crane Lake, and he developed a large and rushing business in trans- 
porting passengers to the new field until the discovery of gold in the 
Klondike overshadowed completely the pretentious gold discoveries of 
St. Louis County, Minnesota. 

For a long period of years Mr. Jesmore has been a prominent and 
influential figure in the political activities of this section of the Gopher 
state, and his secure place in the confidence and good will of the com- 
munity has resulted in his being called to various positions of distinctive 
public trust. He served one term as president of the Village Council 
of Eveleth, and had the distinction of being elected the first mayor after 
the place had gained its city charter. At the expiration of his term he 
was twice re-elected, and he gave a characteristically vigorous and pro- 
gressive administration. In 1914 he was appointed postmaster of 
Eveleth. and of this position he has since continued the valued and hon- 
ored incumbent. He has been a loyal and zealous factor in the sup- 
porting of the various measures and undertakings that have conserved 
the material and civic development and upbuilding of Eveleth ; his political 
allegiance is given to the Democratic party, he is actively affiliated with 
the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and he 
and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church. 

In 1890 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jesmore to Mrs. Matilda 
(Johnson) Murray, and their only child is a daughter, Ruth Marian. 
By her former marriage Mrs. Jesmore has two children — David Allister 
Murray, and Mamie, who is the wife of Alexander King. 

Edwin J. Collins was born May 28, 1875, in Greenland, Michigan, 
and is the son of Lawrence Collins, who for many years was successfully 
engaged in the mercantile business, and of whose two children Edwin J. 
is the younger. He received his public school education at Greenland, 
Michigan, and then entered the employ of the Calumet and Hecla Min- 
ing Company at Calumet, Michigan, being employed for five years as a 
machinist and four years as a draughtsman. He graduated from the 
Michigan College of Mines at Houghton in 1903. In 1905 Mr. Collins 
became superintendent of the Wolverine and Arizona Mine at Bisbee, 
Arizona, serving as such until his appointment as general manager of 
the Nevada Smelting and Mines Corporation, which position he held until 
1908. in which year he came to Duluth and opened an office as consult- 
ing engineer. Since that time he has gained a wide and flattering reputa- 
tion as a reliable and able engineer, his business relations extending 
practicallv over the United States. Canada and Mexico. 

Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, the Ancient Arabic 
Order Nobles of the Mvstic Shrine and. socially, of the Kitchi Gammi 
Club, the Commercial Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Northland Country 
Club. On January 10. 1905. Mr. Collins was married to Edith M. Cook, 
and to them have been born four children, three of whom are living. 
Mr. Collins is a public-spirited man. aiding in the upbuilding of his com- 
munity in any way, and he possesses those sterling qualities of character 
which commend themselves to persons of standing and intelligence. 






ASIC 
TILD 




CHARLES TRENGOVE 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1173 

Charles Trengove, master mechanic at the Elba Mine for the East- 
ern Mesaba district for Pickands, Mather & Company, has been asso- 
ciated with the mining industry practically since he was twelve years of 
age, and his father was one of the men whose names should be preserved 
in history for some of the first work of discovery and exploration in the 
mineral sections of northern Minnesota. 

The Trengoves are a family whose original seat was in Cornwall, 
England, a country primarily devoted to the great mining industry. 
Charles Trengove was born there February 27, 1856. His father was 
John Trengove. John and three brothers were men of remarkable 
stature, each standing six feet three inches in stocking feet. All served 
as members of the Queen's Life Guard. Aside from his military record 
John Trengove was a practical miner and an expert in many phases of 
the mining industry. The British Government once sent him to Cuba 
to look into mining possibilities on that island, and he spent eighteen 
months there. Later he was sent to the United States on a similar service. 
It was during this time, more than sixty years ago, that he made his first 
visit to St. Louis County, Minnesota, a remote and almost unsettled 
district. With Joseph Bice, who afterward married his sister, John 
Trengove built a shack where No. 1 shaft of the Spruce Mine at Eveleth 
now stands. John Trengove subsequently returned to England and mar- 
ried Mary Drundry. Soon after his marriage he returned to the United 
States and joined the mining camp at Marquette, Michigan. With that 
as his headquarters he made some exploring expeditions, and on one 
occasion discovered a silver lead mine. In the meantime he had sent to 
England for his wife, and she joined him with her son Charles, who was 
born during the absence of the father in America. John Trengove oper- 
ated his silver lead mine for a time, and subsequently was in the lumber 
business at Ripley, Michigan, making that his home for many years. He 
finally removed to New York city, where he died. 

Charles Trengove grew up in Michigan, had only a common school 
education, but by self study and practical experience has acquired all 
the varied expert knowledge used in the mining industry. He was in 
his twelfth year when he began picking silver in the old Franklin Stamp 
Copper Mill. Under John Funkey, master mechanic of a foundry at 
Ripley, he learned the machinist's trade, and remained there as a jour- 
neyman for a time. He next became a locomotive fireman on the Mineral 
Ridge Railroad, and in a comparatively short time was advanced to the 
post of engineer, and served in that capacity about seven years. One of 
his earlier experiences was eighteen months at Butte, Montana, where 
he was an engineer on the Montana Union Railroad. He remained there 
until the collapse of the Anaconda Mines, when with scores of others he 
was thrown out of .work without a moment's notice. Mr. Trengove came 
to northern Minnesota at Tower in September, 1887, a third of a century 
ago. After a few months spent in the mine shops he was made superin- 
tendent of the Tower & Soudan Street Railway, and subsequently fol- 
lowed his trade as a machinist. While in that capacity he erected the 
first steam plant at Tower. Still further variety was given to his expe- 
rience when for three and a half years he carried mail for the United 
States Government between Tower and what is now International Falls. 
He took the first mail sack by contract to International Falls, and also 
drove the first team of horses to that location. 

He gave up mail carrying to become master mechanic of the Spruce 
Mine at Eveleth, but since 1900 has been master mechanic for the Elba 
Mine, and is one of the oldest men in the service of Pickands, Mather 
& Company in the Mesaba district. Mr. Trengove is a Royal Arch 



1174 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mason, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of Aad 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and his family are Presbyterians. During 
the World war he was a deputy sheriff of St. Louis County, and was one 
of the local men who took a firm stand for the Government against occa- 
sional outbreaks of sedition. 

Mr. Trengove was also represented in the World war by a soldier son. 
September 18, 1880. he married Miss Minnie Gundry. The three chil- 
dren born to their marriage are Harley G.. Stanley Alvin A. and Florence 
M.. wife of William Rutherford. The soldier was Stanley Trengove. 
who was a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Infantry. 
He was in the service twenty-three months and ten days, most of the time 
in France, and his discharge paper shows that he participated in five 
battles. While never wounded, he was gassed. 

I 

Charles B. Hoel. president of the Miners National Bank at Eveleth, 
has by his own ability and well directed course made for himself a place 
of no insignificant prominence fn connection with the banking activities 
of his native commonwealth. He was born on a farm near Stephen, 
Marshall County, Minnesota, on the 23d of April. 1883. and is a son of 
Edward P. Hoel, whose father. Peter P. Hoel, was born in Norway and 
who became a pioneer settler in Minnesota, where he developed a pro- 
ductive farm and stood exemplar of loyal and sterling citizenship. 
Edward P. Hoel has been prominently concerned with agricultural indus- 
trv in Minnesota for many years, has achieved worthy success and high 
communal standing, and he and his wife, whose family name was 
Sanderson, still maintain their home in Marshall County. 

Charles B. Hoel gained his full quota of experience and hard work 
in connection with the development and general activities of the old 
home farm, and his early educational advantages included those of the 
public schools at Park Ridge. In the pursuance of higher education he 
entered Luther College at Fergus Falls, and in this institution he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1898. Thereafter he held for some 
time a clerical position in a bank at Mcintosh, Polk County, where later 
he served as assistant postmaster. In 1902 he established himself in the 
retail grocerv and meat-market business at Eleveth, and with this line of 
enterprise he here continued his active association four years. He then, 
in 1906, assumed the position of bookkeeper in. the Miners National 
Bank, and in 1908 was promoted to the post of assistant cashier. His 
executive ability, personal popularity and faithful service continued to 
give him increasing prestige in connection with the affairs of this repre- 
sentative financial institution, of which he became casher in 1911. vice 
president in 1917, and president in January, 1920. He has been a resource- 
ful factor in the upbuilding of the substantial and representative business 
of this banking institution, and as its chief executive is giving a careful 
and well-ordered administration, based on prior experience, thorough 
knowledge of the requirements of the community and safely progressive 
policies. Mr. Hoel takes loyal interest in everything pertaining to the 
welfare of his home city, and is one of its liberal and progressive citizens 
and representative business men. He is a Republican in politics; he and 
his wife are communicants of the local parish of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternitv and the Bene- 
volent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a valued member of the 
local Commercial Club and the Rotary Club. He is a member of the 
Eveleth Board of Education and of the Board of Trustees of the Eveleth 
Public Librarv. In the period of the World war he was chairman of 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1175 

the local War Savings Stamp organization and was influential also in 
other war activities in this community. 

On the 25th of September, 1911, was solemnized the marriage of 
Mr. Hoel to Miss Lillian Perkins, of Pine City, Pine County, and their 
only child is a daughter, Elizabeth Jane. 

Charles N. Hollans. In such men as Charles N. Hollans there is 
peculiar satisfaction in offering their life histories — justification for the 
compilation of works of this character — not that their lives have been 
such as to gain them particularly wide notoriety or the admiring plaudits 
of men. but that they have been true to the trusts reposed in them and 
have shown such attributes of character as entitle them to the regard 
of all. 

Charles N. Hollans was born on October 10. 1884, in Ogdensburg, 
New York, and is the son of William Hollans. who was a native of Den- 
mark and whose death occurred at Ogdensburg in 1903. The father after 
coming to this country, located at Ogdensburg, and that was his home 
during the remainder of his life. He was a gunner in the United States 
Navy and was a veteran of the Civil war. Later he became a machinist 
and mechanical engineer, which vocations he followed during the 
remainder of his active life. Of the twelve children born to him and his 
wife Charles N. of this sketch was the ninth in order of birth, and three 
of these children are still living. 

Charles N. Hollans received his educational training in the public and 
grammar schools of Ogdensburg. He spent four years of his early life 
with his father, working at the machinist's trade, spent four years as an 
assistant engineer on the Great Lakes, and then as chief engineer up to 
1917. He returned to Duluth, where he had formerly lived, and became 
connected with the American Bureau of Shipping, with offices in the 
Palladio Building, with which he remained till his death. Mr. Hollans 
was thoroughly qualified by training and experience for that business and 
achieved a pronounced success in it, enjoying the respect and esteem of 
all who knew him. Mr. Hollans died February 16. 1921, of septic 
meningitis. 

On the 17th of January, 1916, he was married to Zelma Moyer, the 
daughter of William F. Moyer, and they had a daughter, Kathryn, born 
on August 6, 1917. The Hollans family move in the best social circles 
of their city and are extremely popular among their acquaintances. 

Edward J. Hawley. Years of experience in any certain line enables 
a man to render an efficient service and to produce results impossible to 
one without practical knowledge. Edward J. Hawley, engineer of Hib- 
bing, is one of the expert men in his line, and under his skillful superin- 
tendence the village is securing a service many a city much larger would 
be glad to have. Mr. Hawley is a native of Wisconsin, having been born 
at Green Bay June 17, 1879, a son of Thomas and Mary C. (Creig) 
Hawley, both of who are natives of Ireland. Each came separately to 
the United States, were married in this country, and lived at Green Bay, 
Wisconsin, where the father operated as a steamboat captain. He died 
in that city in 1898, and there his widow continues to reside, being an 
aged lady of eighty-four years. 

Edward J. Hawley was the tenth born in a family of eleven children, 
nine of whom are still living. He was reared at Green Bay. Wiscon- 
sin, and was graduated from its high school course in June, 1898. For 
some time thereafter he worked at engineering and similar jobs, and 
then entered the Wisconsin State University and was graduated there- 



1176 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

from in 1908 as a civil engineer. That same year he came to Hibbing 
and was a mining engineer for the Shenango Furnace Company, and later 
for the Oliver Iron Mining Company and the Stevenson Iron Mining 
Company, continuing in this line until 1913, when the village of Hibbing 
secured his services as its engineer, and he has since devoted his energies 
to the responsibilities of that position. 

On September 28, 1910, Mr. Hawley was united in marriage with 
Emma A. Howlett, of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Mr. Hawley is a Roman 
Catholic. He belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks, the Engineers' Club of Northern Minnesota, 
the Duluth Engineers' Club, the Minnesota Engineers' and Surveyors' 
Society, the American Association of Engineers and the Commercial 
Club. It is to men like Mr. Hawley that Hibbing owes its wonderful 
prosperity. By insuring to its residents all of the comforts and luxuries 
of a metropolitan community many have been induced to locate here who 
possess ample means, and their money has been invested in local enter- 
prises. Mr. Hawley's own interests are centered at Hibbing and he is 
proud of the place and his own part in developing it. 

James Cameron Hartness, who is engaged in active professional 
work as a mining engineer of marked technical skill and experience, 
maintains his residence at Eveleth, and aside from his professional ability 
and high standing in the community there is no little distinction attend- 
ing him by reason of his having given gallant service with the American 
Expeditionary Forces in France at the time of the late World war, in 
which he gained the rank of major. He was associated with Bo we 
& Burke, miners and shippers, for about one year and is now practicing 
as consulting engineer. He has maintained his headquarters at Eveleth 
since 1910. During the greater part of the intervening period he has 
been employed professionally by the fee owners of ore property in the 
mineral range of northern Minnesota, besides which he has done an 
appreciable amount of independent work along engineering lines. He is 
an active member of the Rotary and Commercial Clubs of Eveleth and 
the Engineers' Club of Northern Minnesota. In the Masonic fraternity 
he has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is 
identified with the Mystic Shrine, besides which he is affiliated with the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the American Legion, 
his religious faith being that of the Presbyterian Church and his political 
support being given to the Republican party. 

James Cameron Hartness was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, 
August 2. 1882, and is a son of Rev. Jacob Van Ness Hartness and 
Marion G. (Cameron) Hartness, his father having been a clergyman of 
the Presbyterian Church. Major Hartness was a child when his father 
assumed a pastoral charge at Lansing, the capital city of Michigan, and 
there the son continued his studies in the public schools until his gradu- 
ation in the high school at the age of eighteen years. For a year there- 
after he taught in district schools near Marquette, Michigan, in which 
city his parents had established their home in 1900. After his pedagogic 
service Major Hartness was for eighteen months a student in Alma Col- 
lege at Alma, Michigan, and thereafter was for several months employed 
as an electrician at the blast furnace of the Pioneer Iron Company at 
Marquette. He then entered the Michigan College of Mines at Hough- 
ton, and in this institution was graduated in 1906, with the degree of 
Bachelor of Science and Engineer of Mines. For the ensuing five years 
he was engaged in professional work in the mining districts of Arizona 
and California, where he gained valuable experience in connection with 





Kjy^ZAsOuijL*^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1177 

gold, silver and copper mining. In 1910, as already noted, he became a 
resident of Eveleth, Minnesota, and of his professional activities since 
that time due mention has been made in a preceding paragraph of this 
context. 

When the nation became involved in the World war Major Hartness 
subordinated all other interests to tender his services to the Govern- 
ment. In May, 1917, he entered the First Officers' Training Camp at 
Fort Snelling, and. later he continued his training at Fort Leavenworth, 
Kansas. Thereafter he was assigned to the Three Hundred and 
Thirteenth Engineers and was stationed about one year at Camp Dodge, 
Iowa. On the 5th of July, 1917, he received his commission as captain 
of engineers, and in October of the following year gained the rank of 
major of engineers. He arrived in France September 1, 1918, his com- 
mand being a part of the Eighty-eighth Division, a division that for one 
month held the front line of trenches in the Belleforte sector in Alsace. 
It was while in this hazardous service at the front that Major Hartness 
received his commission as major. After the signing of the armistice 
he remained in France until June, 1919, when he sailed for home, his 
honorable discharge being received by him on the 17th of that month at 
Camp Dodge, Iowa. 

On the 20th of April, 1912, was solemnized the marriage of Major 
Hartness to Miss Maude Tubbs, of Minneapolis, and their only child is 
a daughter, Helen. Mrs. Hartness is a popular figure in the representa- 
tive social life of the home community and is a communicant of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. 

John C. Richards. In his chosen profession Mr. Richards has found 
and developed a definite individual potential and effectively proved the 
consistency of his choice of vocation. He is one of the able, successful 
and popular mining engineers of the Mesaba Range district of northern 
Minnesota, with residence and professional headquarters at Virginia, 
where his offices are in the First National Bank Building. 

Mr. Richards was born in the city of Detroit, Michigan, September 
26, 1883, and is a son of James W. and Nettie (Hogue) Richards, the 
former of whom was born at Cleveland, Ohio, and the latter at Cincinnati, 
that state, their home at the present time being in the city of Duluth, 
Minnesota, and their children being three in number. 

John C. Richards was a lad of seven years at the time of the family 
removal to Duluth, and there he continued his studies in the public 
schools until his graduation in the high school as a member of the class 
of 1904. Thereafter he was for two years a student in the University 
of Minnesota, and he then entered the Michigan School of Mines at 
Houghton, in which admirable technical institution he continued his 
studies three months and effectively fortified himself for the practical 
work of his chosen profession. In the autumn of 1906 Mr. Richards 
proceeded to Hibbing, Minnesota, and became an engineer for the Carl- 
son Exploration Company, his duties involving the locating of properties, 
the making of plans for drilling and general exploitation of these projects, 
the estimating on bodies of ore, etc. After two years of effective service 
in this important capacity he emancipated himself from such direct asso- 
ciation and became a freelance in the work of his profession. At this 
time he established his residence at Virginia, and here he has since con- 
tinued in the active pursuit of his profession, in which he has done a 
large amount of important service and gained a most comprehensive 
knowledge of mining properties and prospects in this extensive and 
important field. For several years past he has also been superintendent 



1178 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

of the Knox. Midget and Cavour Mines. He is a member of the North- 
ern Minnesota Mining Engineers' Club and of the Rotary Club of Vir- 
ginia. In the Masonic fraternity he is a Scottish Rite Mason. In his 
home city he is an appreciative and popular member of the lodge of 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A staunch Republican, he has 
assisted in the promotion of the party cause in his resident district, and 
in January. 1918, became a member of the City Council of Virginia, in 
which position he continues to serve at the time of this writing. 

May 7. 1913. marked the marriage of Mr. Richards to Miss Lillian 
B. Go wan, of Duluth. and she was summoned to the life eternal on the 
26th of December. 1919. She is survived by four children — Ann. William 
Andrew. Mary Henrietta and John Carver, Jr. 

Bertram S. Adams, M. D. One of the institutions that round out 
and give symmetry to the community and public life of Hibbing is the 
Adams Hospital, which was opened in June, 1902. and has been continu- 
ously under the direct supervision of Dr. Bertram S. Adams. 

Doctor Adams is the grandson of a physician. Dr. Henry Dwight 
Adams. Bertram S. was born at Racine, Wisconsin. November 10, 1875, 
a son of Henry Kirk and Frances (Sage) Adams. Henry Kirk Adams 
moved to North Dakota in 1882, and for many years was active in banking 
at Lisbon in that state. 

Doctor Adams lived at Lisbon, North Dakota, from the age of seven 
until he attained manhood, graduated from high school, and completed 
a thorough and liberal education in the University of Minnesota prior to 
training for his profession in the same institution. He graduated in 
medicine in 1901, and in the meantime served as an interne in St. Barnabas 
Hospital in Minneapolis. After graduation he was assistant for one year 
to Dr. Charles W. Bray in his hospital at Biwabik in St. Louis County, 
and then in June, 1902, located at Hibbing and established the Adams 
Hospital in a building specially erected for the purpose and representing 
every mechanical facility and equipment of the up-to-date modern insti- 
tution. Doctor Adams came to Hibbing primarily to take charge of the 
health work among the miners in the mines controlled by Joseph Sellwood. 

Doctor Adams has served as chairman of the Village Board of Health 
of Hibbing, is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member 
of the St. Louis County and State Medical Societies and the American 
Medical Association, and fraternally is a Scottish Rite Mason and Mystic 
Shriner, a member of the Order of Elks, the Algonquin Club, the Curling 
Club, and the Presbyterian Church. In politics he supports the Repub- 
lican party. In 1903 Doctor Adams married Miss Vida Brugger, of 
Minneapolis. Their four daughters are Eleanor, Priscilla, Elizabeth 
and Sage. 

Fred H. Holladay formed his first connection with Hibbing and with 
the widely known contracting firm of Winston-Dear Company in 1906. 
He has been in that locality and with that one firm ever since, and from 
one of the minor employes has risen to the responsibilities of vice presi- 
dent of the company and general manager of its extensive operations. 

Mr. Holladay is a native Virginian. He was born at Buckner, Vir- 
ginia, June 15, 1877, a son of Fred H. and Janet Collins (Garrett) 
Holladay. His father served as a Confederate soldier, was a planter, later 
a grain commission merchant at Richmond, Virginia, and he and his wife 
spent all their lives in Louisa County, where she died in 1889. He retired 
from active business in 1915 and died in Norfolk, Virginia, in February, 
1919. For two terms he was a member of the Virginia State Legislature, 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1179 

representing Louisa County. Of their family of eight children five are 
still living. 

Fred H. Holladay grew up at Buckner, Virginia, and his early educa- 
tion was directed by a private tutor at home. Later he attended high 
school at Louisa, and subsequently private schools, and his first business 
experience was as a loose leaf tobacco buyer and exporter with the 
E. G. Moseley Company at Danville, Virginia. Mr. Holladay came west 
in 1899, and at Minneapolis entered the service of Winston Brothers in 
connection with their contracts for railroad construction work in various 
northwestern, eastern and southern states. In 1906 he was sent to 
Hibbing, Minnesota, to take charge of the Winston-Dear Company's 
offices on open pit mine stripping work, where he expected to remain 
about eight months, but instead has found his permanent home and 
business energies centered in this community. In 1910 he was made 
superintendent of the stripping of the Burt Mine. During 1912-13-14-15 
was superintendent of the stripping of the Dunwoody Mine at Chisholm, 
was then transferred as superintendent of the stripping operations of the 
Webb Mine, and superintended ore loading from the Susquehanna Mine 
at Hibbing. In 1917 he was promoted to general manager of the Winston- 
Dear Company operations, and in 1920 became a vice president of the 
corporation. 

Mr. Holladay is a member of the Christian Church, is a Scottish Rite 
Mason, an Elk, and a Southern Conservative Democrat in politics, and as 
such votes the Republican ticket often. On October 26, 1915, he married 
Miss Laura Downton Hall, daughter of Dr. W. A. Hall of Prairie du 
Chien, Wisconsin. Their two children are Constance Downton and 
Sally Garrett. 

William Neilon came to the Range country of northern Minnesota 
more than a quarter of a century ago, and except for the first few years 
has continuously been identified with the fire fighting service, first at 
Hibbing and for the past thirteen years at Eveleth, where he is now chief 
of the fire department. 

Mr. Neilon was born at Bridgeport, Connecticut, June 22, 1871, but 
has spent most of his life in Wisconsin and Minnesota. His father, 
Patrick Neilon, was a native of Ireland, during his youth removed to 
England, where he married Ellen Daily, and about a year later they 
immigrated to the United States. Mr. Neilon was an engineer in a paper 
making establishment near Bridgeport, Connecticut, and from there 
brought his family west to Escanaba, Michigan, where he became fore- 
man of the railway roundhouse. Giving up his trade, he became a farmer 
in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, and he and his wife spent their last 
years in Marinette County in that state. 

One of a family of twelve children, William Neilon had to contribute 
something to the support of the large household as soon as his strength 
and abilities became sufficient. As a boy at home he attended the common 
schools. When about sixteen he began his real career as a saw mill hand 
at Marinette, Wisconsin. Mr. Neilon was twenty-two years of age when 
in 1893 he came to Hibbing, Minnesota. For several years he was in the 
service of the Longyears as explorer under John Bush. He then entered 
the Hibbing fire department, and in 1907 was invited to come to Eveleth 
to break in and train horses for the fire department of that city. He has 
been continuously identified with the department ever since, and in 1908 
was made chief. He has disciplined and developed a high class fire fight- 
ing force, and it now has splendid equipment and the service is one of the 
most adequate found in any city of the size in Minnesota. 



1180 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Neilon is a Catholic, a member of the Elks Lodge and belongs to 
the International Association of Fire Engineers. In 1912 he married 
Loretta Kent. Their three living children are Laverne, William and 
Elizabeth. 

Edward C. Booth. It is a remarkable fact that the men who do the 
most for education are those who themselves have lacked ordinary 
advantages. Still, after all, their attitude is not so wonderful, because 
having had to go through life without the knowledge which comes of an 
education they appreciate just what such a lack means to the ambitious 
boy or girl and exert themselves as they grow older to awaken the inter- 
est of their community to the supreme value of public education upon 
an extensive scale. Edward C. Booth, who was superintendent of the 
buildings and grounds for Independent School District No. 27 at Hib- 
bing, was one of the self-made men of St. Louis County. At an age 
when the majority of children are tenderly cherished by loving parents 
he was left to the cold mercies of strangers, and from the age of fourteen 
was self-supporting. Yet, after all, perhaps this vigorous training had 
its advantages, for in him it developed a sturdiness of character, a self- 
reliance of spirit and a thorough appreciation of the dignity of honest 
labor and the value of intelligent thrift. 

Edward C. Booth was born at Oswego, New York, September 6, 
1857, a son of Elliott Le Grand Booth, a livestock dealer of New York, 
who came of English ancestry. He enlisted in the Union army for 
service during the war between the North and the South, and lost his 
life in that conflict. His widow, whose maiden name was Celia Fitch, 
remarried, her second husband being Cyrus Henderson. When only 
seven years old Edward C. Booth had to live among strangers, who took 
care of him only until he was fourteen years of age. In his early years 
he was bereft of parental love and care and, as stated, his educational 
opportunities were very limited. In 1871 he drifted out to Fond du 
Lac County, Wisconsin, and there worked as a farm hand until he was 
twenty-two years old. Attention then, in 1879, was being directed toward 
the territory of Dakota, and he went over the border into that portion 
now known as North Dakota, and was living there at the time the state 
was created. For five years he was deputy sheriff of Barnes County. 
At the time he was in office the county was new and lawlessness was 
prevalent, and it took a man of fearless character and intense courage 
to enforce the law. 

About 1883 Mr. Booth returned to Wisconsin, and was engaged in 
carpenter work at Superior until 1905, when he came to Hibbing. He 
first worked in the Buffalo and Susquehanna Mines as a carpenter, build- 
ing the office and shaft houses, and did this at a time when the mines 
were newly opened. After about a year he was given charge of the 
old Center street school building, and was ever afterward connected 
with the schools of this district. Later he was employed to look after 
all of the buildings and grounds and rendered such valuable service that 
the utmost reliance was placed upon his judgment and recommendations. 
Mr. Booth died May 2, 1921, after an illness of a year. 

In 1883 he was married to Amelia Zingg, and nine children were 
born to them, namely: Laura E., who is Mrs. DeLoss Hall; Edward 
Stanley ; Lida, who is Mrs. Arthur J. Trudeau, a widow ; Elwood ; Olive, 
who is Mrs. John Williams ; Elliott ; Helen, who is Mrs. Thomas Eldred ; 
Norman; and Gladys, who is Mrs. K. P. Anderson. Mr. Booth be- 
longed to the Episcopal Church. He was a member of the Masons, 
Odd Fellows and Elks. 







'^rM^ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1181 

Laura E. Booth is now superintendent of schools of Carter County, 
Montana. While the family lived in Dakota she took up a claim very 
near to the historic Custer battlefield, and while proving it up, taught 
school, and drove eight miles each day to her school. She passed the 
United States civil service examination and taught among the Indians 
at Pine Ridge Agency. After her marriage she moved to Montana, where 
she has been a forceful factor in politics, stumping the state for Janet 
Rankin, the first woman to be elected to Congress. This brought her 
into prominence, and when Carter County was created Mrs. Hall was 
appointed by the governor as superintendent of schools and has since 
then held that office, being elected to it several times. She is a brilliant 
woman, and her family are very proud of her and what she has accom- 
plished and the future which lies before her. 

Charles H. Claypool. The Tod-Stambaugh Company of Cleve- 
land, Ohio, is one of the larger organizations of capital and operating 
facilities owning and exploiting the ore resources of the iron ranges of 
northern Minnesota. Their activities in the Hibbing district of the 
Mesaba Range are carried on through the subsidiary companies known 
as the Dean Iron Company, the Mead Iron Company, the Stambaugh 
Iron Company, and the Orwell Iron Company. The general superin- 
tendent for all these companies is Charles H. Claypool of Hibbing, who 
is a practical ore man and mining engineer of long experience in these 
districts. 

Mr. Claypool was born at Duluth October 3, 1881, a son of George H. 
and Emma M. (Huston) Claypool. His father, who was born in Arm- 
strong County, Pennsylvania, came of a family of farmers and was a 
pioneer settler in Duluth, where for many years he was interested in 
lumbering operations, but for a number of years past has been in the 
real estate business. One of three children, Charles H. Claypool grew 
up at Duluth, graduated from the high school in 1900, and had the bene- 
fit and advantage of the two years' course in the University School of 
Mines at Minnesota University. 

He began his practical career in the mining industry in the fall of 
1902 at Hibbing, in the service of E. J. Longyear, and was employed 
as a sample man in the Buffalo, Susquehanna & Scranton Exploration 
Works. He was then in the engineering department as transit man, 
working west from Hibbing to Grand Rapids, and in 1905 went with 
the Oliver Iron Mining Company, at first as an engineer in the Coleraine 
district, later as chief engineer, and subsequently as superintendent of 
the experimental work in the washing plant. He also superintended the 
construction of the new plant at Coleraine, and in January, 1910, before 
that plant was completed, he formed a partnership with J. C. Agnew 
and G. G. Hartley, making the Cavour Mining Company. They opened 
up the Cavour Mine at Kinney, and Mr. Claypool was superintendent 
of that mine. In 1916 he became associated with the Inland Steel Com- 
pany of Chicago as superintendent of their Julia Mine at Virginia, but 
in 1918 left the Inland Company and came to Hibbing to take up his 
present duties as general superintendent for the Tod-Stambaugh Com- 
pany's interests. 

Mr. Claypool is one of the thorough experts and one of the best 
known officials in the iron ore district. He is a member of the Algon- 
quin Club and the Kiwanis Club, is affiliated with the Masonic Order, 
is a Republican and a Presbyterian. April 10, 1907, he married Cath- 
erine Garrettson, of Kenton, Ohio. Their three children are Charles H., 
Jr., Jane and Catherine. 



1182 DULUTH AXD ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

George VV. Martin. A career of consecutive application and con- 
secutive progress has been that of George William Martin, who has 
gained a place of prominence and influence in connection with important 
industrial interests and business activities in the city of Duluth and who 
has been a resident of the Lake Superior region for virtually forty years. 
He is now actively identified with a special field of enterprise in con- 
nection with the lumbering industry, and has been concerned with exten- 
sive operations in manufacturing and handling railway ties, telegraph 
and telephone poles, etc. 

George W. Martin was born at Brantford, Province of Ontario, Can- 
ada, on the 23d of June, 1854, and is a son of George and Margaret 
Martin, both of whom were born and reared in Scotland and both of 
whom were young folk when they emigrated from their native land to 
Canada and gained pioneer honors in Brant County, Ontario, which 
section of the province was at that time little more than a wilderness. 
The parents worthily did their part in connection with civic and material 
development and progress in that county and there they continued to 
maintain their home until the time of their deaths. They reared a large 
family of children, some of whom remained in Ontario and others of 
whom came to the state of Minnesota. 

The early education of George W. Martin was acquired at the rural 
schools of his native county, and in the meanwhile he contributed his 
share to the work of the home farm in Brantford township. He con- 
tinued his association with farm industry in his native county until 
1881, when, at the age of twenty-seven years, he set forth for the state 
of Minnesota. At Port Edwards. Ontario, he embarked on the old 
steamboat "Quebec," which afforded him transportation up through 
the Great Lakes to Duluth, in which embryonic city he arrived in Octo- 
ber of that year. During 1881-2 he worked on railroads and in the 
lumber woods, and in the spring of the latter year assumed the position 
of cashier for the Northern Pacific and St. Paul & Duluth Railroads 
at Northern Pacific Junction, which was the nucleus of the present vil- 
lage of Carlton, judicial center of Carlton County. He retained this 
position about five years, and he then became bookkeeper and general 
office man in the employ of A. M. Miller at Thomson, Carolton County. 
He was thus identified with the sawmill and lumber operation conducted 
by Mr. Miller until the latter closed out the business. For a period of 
about eighteen months thereafter Mr. Martin was manager of the busi- 
ness of Cutler & Gilbert at Duluth, and he then went to Foley, Benton 
County, where he entered the employ of Foley Brothers in the capac- 
ity of office manager, lumber salesman and manager of stores. He con- 
tinued his alliance with this firm for eight years, or until the supply 
of available timber became so diminished as to render further operations 
unprofitable in the general lumbering business of the concern. At this 
juncture in his career Mr. Martin returned to Duluth and initiated inde- 
pendent operations in the handling of timber and the production of 
railway ties on a very large scale. He found a ready demand for his 
products, which were sold to the various railroads entering Duluth. and 
the scope of the business was amplified by the extensive production also 
of pulp wood, cedar posts and poles, logs and other forest products. 
In the upbuilding of the large and important enterprise Mr. Martin 
has had as his valued coadjutor his brother Thomas H., and the busi- 
ness has been conducted under the firm name of Martin Brothers. 
Mr. Martin has shown both energy and good judgment in his independ- 
ent business activities and by initiative, discrimination and progressive 
policies has achieved substantial success, with high standing as one of 




ICr^fa^^ 



Il^pf, 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1183 

the reliable and representative business men of Duluth. He had had no 
desire for the activities of practical politics, but is a loyal supporter of 
the cause of the Republican party, even as he has been earnest in the 
support of the prohibition movement. Both he and his wife have long 
been actively affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

In the fall of 1921 there was installed in the tower of the First Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church a set of very fine and melodious church chimes, 
the gift of Mr. Martin and brother, at a cost of $10,000, and a token 
of their deep interest in this church home. 

In the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, on the 29th of January, 1893, 
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Martin to Miss Olive A. Swenson, 
who there received her education in the public schools. The parents of 
Mrs. Martin were numbered among the very early pioneer settlers in 
Chisago County, Minnesota, they having come by steamboat up the 
Mississippi River to St. Paul, and row boats and ox teams having been 
utilized in continuing the journey and transferring the home effects to 
Chisago County, where Mr. and Mrs. Swenson had the distinction of 
bringing in the first piano of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have 
three sons, George Carlyle, Maurice W. and Warren E. 

George Carlyle Martin was one of the gallant young men who rep- 
resented Minnesota in the nation's service in the great World war, and 
has gained lasting distinction for the loyal and patriotic record that is 
his in this connection. On the 13th of May, 1917, about one month 
after the United States became formally involved in the World war, 
George C. Martin entered the First Officers' Training Camp opened 
at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and on the 15th of the following August 
was made second lieutenant in the quartermaster's corps of the United 
States Army, whereupon he was immediately ordered to Camp Dodge, 
Iowa, and assigned to duty in the quartermaster's department of the 
division. He was later transferred to Camp Joseph E. Johnston at Jack- 
sonville, Florida, and on the 7th of March, 1918, was ordered to report 
to the Eigty-second Division at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, Georgia, where 
he was assigned to Company B of the Three Hundred and Seventh sup- 
ply train of that division. This supply train left Camp Gordon on the 
31st of March and proceeded to Detroit, Michigan. During a period of 
about three months thereafter Lieutenant Martin was in the convoy serv- 
ice in the transporting of motor equipment from Detroit to the Atlantic 
seaboard. On the 28th of June, 1918, his command embarked for service 
overseas, the voyage across the Atlantic having been made on the British 
steamship "Justicia" (F. 8261), and disembarkation having been made 
in the port of Liverpool, England, on the 10th of July. The following 
day the command embarked at Southampton, and on the 12th of July 
landed at Le Havre, France. On the 14th of the same month Lieutenant 
Martin left Le Havre, and on the 17th he arrived in the Toul sector, 
where he again joined the Eighty-second Division, the main body of 
which had arrived in France at an earlier date. Two weeks after his 
arrival in France Lieutenant Martin was appointed adjutant of the sup- 
ply train, and in this position he continued his service during the 
remainder of his stav in France. The division with which he served 
participated in the actions of the Toul sector, the historic St. Mihiel 
drive and those of the Argonne Forest, where it was stationed during 
twenty-six consecutive days of vigorous conflict. After the signing of 
the armistice the Eighty-second Division returned to the Pranthoy area, 
between Langres and Dijon, and about the first of March it thence 
proceeded to Bordeaux. From Bordeaux Lieutenant Martin sailed with 
his outfit at 11 :30 p. m., April 25, 1919, the medium of transport having 



1184 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

been the United States steamship "Huron," a converted German liner 
formerly known as Frederich der Grosse, and on the 6th of May, 1919, 
the vessel arrived in the port of New York city. The command was 
thence ordered to Camp Dix, New Jersey, and there Lieutenant Martin 
was mustered out on the 10th of the same month, his honorable dis- 
charge having been given after a period of faithful, efficient and patri- 
otic service with the American Expeditionary Forces in the great battle 
area where the destinies of the world were determined. Since his 
return from France Lieutenant Martin has taken unto himself a wife, 
in the person of Miss Lorreta O'Gorman, a young woman of most gra- 
cious personality and exceptional musical talent, their home being in the 
city of Duluth. 

Lawrence J. McGovern almost from the beginning of his business 
career has been identified with the New York Life Insurance Com- 
pany and came to Duluth in charge of the agency organization work; 
about four years ago. 

Mr. McGovern was born at Irondale, Illinois, November 9, 1882. a 
son of Thomas E. and Mary (Cullen) McGovern. His father is still 
living, at the age of sixty-five. Thomas E. McGovern for many years 
has been a leading contractor of road construction. Lawrence J. McGov- 
ern is second in a family of five living children and was reared and 
educated in Chicago, attending the public schools and the De La Salle 
Institute. His active commercial experience has given him a wide 
knowledge of different lines of business. On leaving school he was 
for two years bookkeeper for a soap manufacturing company. Then for 
a year he was in the auditing department of the Rock Island Railroad. 
Following that for two years he was employed in the rate department of 
a large advertising concern having its headquarters in Chicago. Addi- 
tional variety to his experience was given by service of one year as 
bookkeeper with Marshall Field & Company of Chicago. It was at that 
time he first joined the New York Life in the Chicago offices, employed 
in the loan department. After two years he left to accept a place in 
the purchasing department of the nationally known contracting firm of 
Thompson Starrett Company at San Francisco. He was on the Pacific 
Coast with this firm for six months, and then returned to the New York 
Life as assistant cashier of the St. Paul offices. After two years there 
he was transferred to the Milwaukee office four years, then for six 
months was in the Missouri Clearing House, was then returned to 
Milwaukee as assistant cashier, following which the company sent him 
out to Grand Forks, North Dakota, as cashier in the office. He was 
at Grand Forks for seven years, and from there came to Duluth to 
take charge of the agency organization. 

Mr. McGovern has been at Duluth four years and in that time has 
added a large number of men to the agency ranks. The business of 
the New York Life has been steadily growing, and it is the aim of the 
company to have one of the most progressive agency organizations in the 
country at the Head of the Lakes, and Mr. McGovern has been selected 
as the man whose qualifications especially fit him for directing these 
developments. The general offices of the company are in the Torrey 
Building. 

John J. E. Wertin is president of the Gray-Wertin Company, 
insurance, real estate and investments, with headquarters in the Alworth 
Building in Duluth. This was the first firm to handle and call attention 
by judiciously placed publicity to the natural resources of Lake Yer- 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1185 

million, which lies wholly in St. Louis County, as a summer recreation 
playground. These grounds, as "Call of the Wild" properties have been 
extensively advertised in outdoor magazines with national circulation, 
and this publicity has aroused an interest in every state of the Union, 
Canada. Panama Canal Zone, Japan, England and France, and pur- 
chasers of the properties through the Gray-Wertin Company have come 
as far east as Providence, Rhode Island, as far west as Yosemite, Cali- 
fornia, as far north as Mandan, North Dakota, and as far south as 
Oklahoma City. 

Mr. Wertin, who is a business man of wide training and experience, 
was born at Hancock, Michigan, February 6, 1885. His father was a 
general merchant at Hancock for twenty-nine years. John J. E. Wertin 
is the youngest of five children, three of whom are still living. He 
attended public school at Hancock, and finished his education at Notre 
Dame University, South Bend, Indiana. 

In 1904, at the age of nineteen, he became a clerk in the office of 
the Dollar Bay smelting works in Michigan, remained there six months, 
following which he was cashier and bookkeeper for the Portage Lake 
Gas & Coke Company of Hancock for four months, was then treasurer 
of the copartnership of the A. H. Kruger Lake Gas & Coke Company 
of Hancock for a similar period, and remained as treasurer of the A. H. 
Kruger Company of Duluth and Houghton until June 1, 1909, with head- 
quarters at Halpin. 

In June, 1909, Mr. Wertin came to Duluth and formed a partnership 
with O. H. Clarke under the name Clarke-Wertin Company, a fire 
insurance business. In September, 1913, was formed the Gray-Wertin 
Company to handle real estate as well as insurance. Mr. Wertin became 
treasurer of this company but for the past three years has been its 
president. 

Mr. Wertin is a Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus. 
On January 14, 1913, he married at Duluth Miss Clara W'helan. They 
have two children, Virginia Elizabeth and John J. E., Jr. 

O. H. Clarke, member of the insurance firm of Clarke-Wertin Com- 
pany, came to Duluth in 1894, and has been engaged in the real estate 
business for more than a third of a century. For a number of years 
he lived at Winona, Minnesota, where he was with the wholesale gro- 
cery house of Carter & Blake up to 1875. In 1876 he became deputy 
recorder of deeds, an office he filled until 1882, and then took up the 
flour milling industry at Ellsworth, Wisconsin. He also held the office 
of city clerk until he came to Duluth. Mr. Clarke has two children: 
Dr. H. W. Clarke, born March 14, 1883, and Florence K., born Novem- 
ber 24, 1888. Both are natives of Winona. Florence is the wife of 
H. C. Whaley, living at Crosby, Minnesota, Mr. Whaley being man- 
ager on the Cuyuna Range for the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company 
at Duluth. 

Edward Freeman, who is presiding on the bench of the Eleventh 
Judicial District of Minnesota, with residence and official headquarters 
in the city of Virginia, has gained vantage place as one of the able and 
representative members of the bar of his native state, as well as high 
reputation as a jurist. 

Judge Freeman was born at Mankato, Minnesota, on the 15th of 
October, 1879, a son of Edward E. and Elizabeth K. (Morris) Free- 
man, the former of whom was born at Hartford, Connecticut, and the 
latter at Binehamton, New York, both the Freeman and Morris fam- 



1186 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

ilies having been established in America for many generations. Edward 
E. Freeman was long and actively engaged in the practice of law at 
Mankato, and gained secure status as one of the representative mem- 
bers of the bar of Minnesota. 

Judge Freeman was graduated from the Mankato High School as 
a member of the class of 1896, and thereafter he was employed one 
year in the engineering department of the great Chicago drainage canal. 
the following year finding him in service in the engineering and track 
department of the Illinois Central Railroad. He then entered the civil 
engineering department of the University of Minnesota, but after giving 
two years thus to preparing himself for the profession of civil engineer- 
ing, he entered the law department of the university, in which he was 
graduated as a member of the class of 1903 and with the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws. While at the university he became affiliated with the 
Phi Delta Epsilon fraternity and the Phi Delta Phi law fraternity, 
besides which he was actively associated with athletic affairs at the 
university, where he was for three years a member of the baseball team, 
of which he was captain one year, and where he was for one year a 
member of the football team. 

On the 15th of October. 1903, shortly after his graduation, Judge 
Freeman engaged in the practice of his profession at Chisholm, Minne- 
sota, and three years later was there elected municipal judge, an office 
of which he continued the incumbent six years. He then resumed the 
private practice of his profession, in which he continued at Chisholm 
until April, 1917, and was then appointed to the bench of the Eleventh 
Judicial District of the state. In the following June he removed to 
Virginia, where he has since maintained his home. While a resident 
of Chisholm Judge Freeman gave several terms of characteristically 
effective service as village attorney and attorney for the Board of Edu- 
cation. At the time of the disastrous fire that destroyed much of the 
village he was chairman of the relief committee. At Chisholm Judge 
Freeman still maintains affiliation with Hematite Lodge No. 274, Ancient 
Free and Accepted Masons, and Chisholm Lodge No. 1334, Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks, while at Virginia he is an active and valued 
member of the Rotary Club. In politics he is a Republican of independ- 
ent tendencies, and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian 
Church. During the nation's participation in the World war he was a 
member of the Defense League at Chisholm and otherwise active and 
resourceful in the furtherance of local war activities. 

On the 14th of October, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Judge 
Freeman to Miss Bertha Peck, who was born at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 
and the names and respective dates of birth of their four children are 
here recorded: Everett P., November 20, 1906; Eleanor, September 21, 
1908; Rae, May 25, 1910; and Edward D., March 16. 1915. 

Edward Chester Congdon was born in St. Paul. Minnesota, 
March 1, 1885. and is the second in order of birth of the seven children 
born to Chester Adgate and Clara (Bannister) Congdon. In May, 1892, 
the family removed to Duluth. He attended the Hill School at Potts- 
town, Pennsylvania, and graduated there in 1904. He then entered 
Yale College, where he was graduated in 1908 with the degree of Bach- 
elor of Arts. After a European trip he went to work, in October, 1908, 
in the office of his father, and continued there until the war. 

He was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry on November 
6, 1916, in the newly authorized Officers Reserve Corps, but on March 1, 
1917, the commission expired by reason of the age limitation for that 




WjA^ l/\ y {&^tjr^-L^>-x5~\ 



\ 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1187 

grade. He then, in May. enlisted at the Officers Training Camp at Fort 
Snelling, where on August 15, 1917, he was commissioned a captain 
of infantry and ordered to Camp Dodge for active duty and was there 
assigned to the command of Company D of the Three Hundred and 
Fifty-second Infantry Regiment. Shortly afterward Captain Congdon 
entered upon a long period of sickness and was unable to accompany 
the regiment overseas. He was finally discharged from the service 
January 23, 1919, while still on sick leave, and has since been giving his 
attention to his various business interests. 

Mr. Congdon married Miss Dorothy House on May 5, 1920. 

Chester Adgate Congdon was born June 12, 1853, at Rochester. 
New York, and died November 21, 1916, at St. Paul, Minnesota. His 
father, Sylvester Laurentus Congdon, was a Methodist clergyman. His 
mother was Laura Jane Adgate Congdon. On the paternal side he is 
sixth in descent from James Congdon, a Quaker from England who 
settled in Rhode Island in the first half of the seventeenth century. On the 
paternal side all ancestors were of English origin. On the maternal side 
he is a grandson of Chester V. Adgate and Hannah Berger, the latter 
the daughter of Berger and Jane Van Horn. The Adgate family were 
from New England and presumed to be of English descent. The Ber- 
ger and Van Horn families were from the Hudson River Valley and 
are of Holland origin. Chester Adgate Congdon obtained his education 
in the public schools of Elmira, New York, after which he attended the 
East Genesee Conference Seminary at Ovid, New York, and took the 
degree of A. B. at Syracuse University in 1875. His early occupation 
was school teaching, which continued for one year. He was admitted 
to the bar of the state of New York as attorney and counsellor-at-law 
October 13, 1877, and to the bar of the state of Minnesota, January 9, 

1880. He practiced law at St. Paul, Minnesota, from January, 1880. 
until January, 1892, when he moved to Duluth, Minnesota, and became 
a member of the firm of Billson & Congdon, which firm was changed 
November 1, 1893, to Billson, Congdon & Dickinson. On the death of 
Judge Dickinson the title returned to the original style, Billson & Cong- 
don, which continued until January 1, 1904, at which time both members 
retired from the forensic profession. 

Mr. Congdon entered into various business enterprises and was an 
officer or director of numerous iron mining corporations, the Calumet 
and Arizona Mining Company and other copper mining corporations, 
also the American Exchange National Bank, Marshall-Wells Hardware 
Company, and Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company in Duluth. He also 
went into the fruit growing and cattle raising business in the Yakima 
Valley, Washington. He was assistant United States attorney, District 
of Minnesota, 1881 to 1886; a member of the House of Representatives, 
Minnesota Legislature, 1909 and 1911 sessions; a member of the Duluth 
Charter Commission from October 7, 1903, until his death; and at the 
time of his death was the Minnesota member of the Republican Na- 
tional Committee. He was a member of various clubs and college fra- 
ternities, including Psi Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa. 

Mr. Congdon was married at Syracuse, New York, September 29, 

1881, to Clara Hesperia Bannister, the union being blessed with seven 
children: Walter Bannister, Edward Chester, Marjorie, Helen Clara, 
John (deceased), Elizabeth Mannering and Robert Congdon. 

The following editorial appeared in the Duluth Herald of November 
21. 1916: 

Vol. JII — 17 



1188 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

"In the passing of Chester A. Congdon, Duluth's and Minnesota's 
loss is far greater than many people realize. It is not the loss of Minne- 
sota's wealthiest man, if Mr. Congdon was Minnesota's wealthiest man, 
that counts, for in the hush of death riches have faint voice. It is the 
rich personality and the human possibilities of the personality that con- 
stitute the loss. 

"Many, perhaps, knew Mr. Congdon as a man of stern and even 
rather grim exterior, of distance and aloofness ; yet what they saw was 
not the man at all. Those who really knew him found in him a man of 
tender heart and warm human sympathies. That misleading exterior 
was beyond question the product of an unconquerable diffidence, strange 
as it may seem to many ; and it was this same diffidence that kept secret 
his many beneficences. 

"Mr. Congdon was a close student of government and state policies, 
a foe of waste and inefficiency, a friend of political progress as he saw 
it, a champion of clean public life and sound government. He was always 
the good citizen, eager to have his part in every forward movement in 
directions that he judged to be wise ; and his share in the development of 
better things in public life in this state has been far greater than many 
people know. 

"Not because he was a rich man but because he was a good mary 
with sound instincts and large capacities for service and with an ever 
increasing will to give his energy and means to wholesome public enter- 
prises the loss of Chester A. Congdon is a great blow to the commu- 
nity, to the state and to the nation." 

Eugene F. Bradt. It is a compliment worthily bestowed to say that 
Duluth and St. Louis County are honored by the citizenship of Eugene 
F. Bradt, for he has achieved definite success through his own efforts 
and is thoroughly deserving of the proud American title of "self-made 
man," the term being one that, in its better sense, cannot but appeal to 
the loyal admiration of all who are appreciative of our national insti- 
tutions and the privileges offered for individual accomplishment. It is 
a privilege, ever gratifying in this day and age, to meet a man who has 
the courage to face the battles of life and to win in the stern conflict 
by bringing to bear only those forces with which nature has equipped 
him — self-reliance, self-respect and integrity. 

Eugene F. Bradt, who for many years has enjoyed a high reputa- 
tion as a mining and consulting engineer, was born May 6, 1857, in 
. Van Buren County, Michigan, and is the son of James and Wilhelmina 
Bradt, the former a native of New York state and the mother of Ger- 
many. Both parents are now deceased, the father dying in 1900 and the 
mother passing away in the following year. James Bradt was pos- 
sessed of a good common school education, spent his early life on a 
New York farm and thereafter followed that vocation. Eugene F. 
Bradt is the second in order of birth of the five children born to these 
parents, two of the children dying in infancy. Eugene F. Bradt attended 
the common schools of his home neighborhood and was ambitious to 
secure a collegiate education. To this end he attended different col- 
leges for such periods as he was financially able to do, and from 1877 
(when twenty years old) until 1899 he taught a number of terms of 
school, alternating teaching with attendance at college, the major portion 
of the later time being spent at the University of Michigan. In August, 
1885. he was married to Ida V. Hurlbut. of Hartford, Michigan, who 
taught in the same school with Mr. Bradt. Three children were born 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1189 

of this marriage, namely, Harlan H. Bradt, Frances Gertrude Bradt and 
Mary Antoinette Bradt. Mrs. Bradt died in 1916. 

After leaving school Mr. Bradt turned to the mining industry as 
offering greater opportunities for advancement and has devoted himself 
to some phase of this business ever since. His first employment was at 
Ishpeming, Michigan, as a mining engineer, though his work embraced 
general engineering and surveying. This work engaged his attention 
for ten years. In August, 1899, he took charge of the Minnesota Iron 
Company's exploration work in Michigan, remaining with them until 
December of the following year. After that for about- three months he 
was employed in doing exploration work in Canada for the Illinois Steel 
Company or some of its subsidiary companies. Following that for a 
short period he was engaged in looking over and examining mining lands 
belonging to the Canadian Northern Railway Company in Canada, from 
Port Arthur to Winnipeg. In July, 1901, he entered the employ of the 
Algoma Steel Company, remaining with this company until February, 
1903, having entire charge of all their mining and exploration work in 
Michigan, Canada and elsewhere. He next entered the employ of the 
Great Northern Railway Company, in charge of the Leonard Mining 
Company, and opened up the Leonard Mine at Chisholm, Minnesota. 
He was with this company until November, 1904, at which time he went 
to Detroit, Michigan, where he sank a shaft and opened up a rock salt 
mine under difficulties which the engineering profession regarded as 
impracticable, if not impossible, to overcome. He remained with the 
Detroit Rock Salt Company, for whom this work was done, until Novem- 
ber, 1909, when he entered the employ of the Vermillion Range Land 
Company for the purpose of exploiting their land holdings. In Novem- 
ber, 1912, he became connected with the Jones & Laughlin Steel Com- 
pany at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as consulting mining engineer, remain- 
ing with that company until May, 1916, since which time he has been 
associated with his son, Harlan H. Bradt, mining geologist, in general 
mining, engineering and geological work, carrying on their operations 
largely through the Mines Efficiency Company in Duluth and New York, 
which company they organized in 1916. 

Mr. Bradt's first visit to Duluth was in December, 1898, but he did 
not become a resident of that city until the year 1912, since which time 
he has been numbered among the progressive and public-spirited men of 
the city. He is a member of the Masonic Order, in which he has at- 
tained to the degree of the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. His religious 
faith is that of the Presbyterian Church, in which he has been actively 
interested, having held the office of elder in the churches to which he 
belonged at Hibbing, Minnesota, and Detroit, Michigan. Politically he 
gives his earnest support to the Republican party. 

In all that constitutes true manhood and good citizenship Eugene F. 
Bradt is a notable example, his career having been characterized by duty 
faithfully performed and by industry, thrift and wisely-directed efforts. 

Frank Ansley, of Hibbing, can speak with authority born of long 
personal experience on many phases of the industrial and business life 
of the north and northwest. His experience was particularly long and 
thorough in the lumber industry. He was in the great Canadian north- 
west for several years before railroads were built across that part of 
the continent. He is an old resident of the Iron Range district, and 
later years have brought him a substantial business and accumulations 
as a farmer and real estate man at Hibbing. 



1190 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

Mr. Ansley was born in County Frontenac, Ontario, January 9, 
1864. His grandfather and several prior generations were natives of 
New England, but his father, William Ansley, was born in Canada and 
spent his active life as a farmer and contractor. William Ansley mar- 
ried Jane Jenkins, of Welsh and Dutch ancestry, and both of them spent 
their years in Canada. Of seven children all are living but one. 

Frank Ansley grew up on the home farm in Ontario, and while 
he attended district school he early began to share in the labors and 
responsibilities of the home place. In early life he also learned teleg- 
raphy, though he never became a regular operator. For some time he 
was associated with his father in logging operations, and there is per- 
haps no department of the lumber industry with which he is not prac- 
tically familiar. He worked in the office, was camp cook, and performed 
all the various actual operations in the woods. Later he took a bunch 
of horses out to the end of the rails on the Canadian Pacific Railway 
and entered the freighting service of the firm of Hines & Murphy. While 
in that work he assisted in transporting troops during the Riel rebellion 
in western Canada. For two years he was employed by a Quebec firm 
in getting out board timber in western Ontario, part of the time serving 
as foreman and part of the time as camp cook. 

Leaving Canada, Mr. Ansley came over the line into the United 
States to Michigan and for seven years was in the lumber district of. 
Michigan as a cook, clerk in a meat market and manager of the meat 
market of the Interior Lumber Company. In 1892 he became one of 
the pioneers of the Iron Ranges of northern Minnesota. His first 
employment was as a cook at Mountain Junction. Later he engaged 
in business for himself there, and on selling out spent some six months 
in the west and then returned to the Range country to engage in busi- 
ness at Eveleth. Mr. Ansley identified himself with Hibbing in 1902 
and entered the hotel business, in which line he continued for several 
years. During that time he opened the Miles Hotel, but soon sold it, 
and also acquired what is still a large interest in the purchase of a 
hundred twenty acres adjoining Alice, now a part of the new city of 
Hibbing. Farming this land and promoting its development and sale 
still constitutes his chief business. 

Mr. Ansley served several terms as a trustee of the village of Hib- 
bing and two terms as president, and is now in his eighth consecutive 
year as a member of the School Board of Independent District No. 27. 
including Hibbing. For six years he was a member of the Hibbing 
Park Board, at a time when that body was planning and carrying out 
some of the effective work for the beautification of the village. 
Mr. Ansley has been active in the Commercial Club since its organiza- 
tion, is a Republican, and is affiliated, with the Elks and the Improved 
Order of Red Men. January 12, 1903. he married Miss Vera Golka. 
of Stevens Point. Wisconsin. Four children were born to their mar- 
riage : Alice, who died in infancy ; Patsey Grace, who died at the age 
of eighteen months ; Francis A. and William G. 

William O'Hara. Several interesting distinctions are associated 
with the name of William O'Hara of Biwabik. He was one of the first 
settlers in that district, being there before Biwabik was established as 
a town. He has been continuously for twenty-seven years chief of police. 
Both officially and as a private citizen he has contributed to the sub- 
stantial development and the orderly progress of the town. 

Mr. O'Hara was born near Ottawa, Canada, July 11. 1857. His 
parents, William and Sarah (Kilgore) O'Hara, shortly after their 





WM. O'HARA 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1191 

marriage in Ireland set out for the new world, coming to Canada, and 
when their son William was a child moved to a farm in New York- 
state. 

William O'Hara, third in a family of five sons, acquired his early 
education by walking four miles from the home farm to a country school. 
At the age of seventeen he went to Menominee, Michigan, and became 
a timber worker. He was possessed of a rugged and sturdy physique, 
and all his life has been able to take his share of duties or labors with 
anyone. He came to the Iron Range of northern Minnesota in 1892. 
Biwabik had not yet come into existence as a town. The nearest set- 
tlement was a little hamlet known as America. For a time he worked 
as foreman on construction during the building of the first railroad and 
helped lay the railroad into Virginia. When the Biwabik Mine was 
opened he was appointed a foreman, but in a short time his duties were 
required for the office of chief of police, and he has shown such pro- 
ficiency in that position that no one else has ever been suggested for 
the office in his stead. He is a man of cool and collected courage, always 
ready to act in emergency, and many recall with special favor the admir- 
able manner in which he handled the strike situation of 1917. 

Mr. O'Hara's first residence on the range was a tent. His family 
joined him later. In Michigan, in 1882, he married Julia Elizabeth 
Tierney, a native of New York state. They are the parents of three 
sons and four daughters : William, a railroad employe ; Minnie, wife 
of Hugh Glass, an Iron Range conductor; Vinnie, wife of J. C. McGiv- 
ern, president of the First National Bank of Biwabik ; Ronica, a teacher 
in the schools of Eveleth ; Joseph, a teacher at Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; 
Matt, who is finishing his education at Notre Dame, Indiana ; and Celes- 
tine, also in school. The sons Matt and Joseph were with the colors 
during the World war. The family are members of St. John the Baptist 
Catholic Church, and Mr. O'Hara is affiliated with the Knights of 
Columbus. 

A. H. Peacha is one of Duluth's live and enterprising younger 
business men and for the past six years has been an important factor 
in the success of the Interstate Auto Company, one of the chief organ- 
izations for the sale and distribution of automobiles and automobile 
accessories in the northwestern country. 

Mr. Peacha was born in Cloquet, Minnesota, September 6, 1883, 
son of Joseph F. and Bridget (Hay) Peacha. His father was born in 
Canada, has spent the greater part of his active life as a lumberman 
and is still living at Duluth at the age of sixty-four. In a family of 
eleven children nine are still living, A. H. Peacha being the fourth 
in age. 

Mr. Peacha was well educated in the public schools of his native 
town, but at the age of fifteen went to work and was with his father 
in the lumber woods and acquired every phase of experience in that 
industry. For five years he was foreman of a manufacturing concern 
and then came to Duluth and since 1914 has been superintendent of the 
Interstate Automobile Company. This company was organized by C. F. 
Fitzsimmon, president, W. G. Baldwin, treasurer, and Joseph F. Peacha, 
secretary and manager. They handle an important line of motor cars, 
have worked up an immense business in that line, and also handle auto- 
mobile accessories. They control the patent rights of one of the leading 
automobile heaters in the country. 

Thirteen years ago Mr. Peacha married Miss May Childs. They 
have three children, William, Mary Ann and Elizabeth. 



1192 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

H. H. Borgen. The gentleman whose name heads this paragraph 
is widely known as one of the enterprising business men of Duluth, 
where he has lived for a score of years and has been identified with its 
commercial interests. His well directed efforts in the practical affairs 
of life, has capable management of his business interests and his sound 
judgment have brought him commensurate rewards for the labor he 
has expended and today he honors and is honored by the community 
in which he lives. 

H. H. Borgen was born on the 21st day of March, 1862, in Norway, 
and is a son of Mr. and Mrs. B. M. Borgen. the former of whom died 
in 1885. H. H. Borgen is the first born of the three children which 
blessed the union of his parents. He remained in his native land until 
twenty-five years of age, when, in 1887, he came to the United States 
to make his future home. He first located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 
where he obtained employment as a salesman with the Nelson Tenny 
Lumber Company, with whom he remained for eight years. He then 
began to work for the Twin City Paint Company as cashier and sales- 
man, serving with them for three years. In 1900 he came to Duluth 
and engaged in the paint and hardware business under the name of the 
Northwestern Paint and Hardware Company, and from the beginning 
he has enjoyed a remarkable success, being now numbered among the 
leaders in his line in Duluth. He deals in paints, oils, varnishes, brushes 
and wall paper, and also handles builders' hardware, tools, etc., his store 
at No. 323 West First street being well stocked with a full line of these 
and kindred lines. At the time Mr. Borgen located where he now is 
there were but few retail stores in that section, but he has witnessed 
a wonderful development of that part of the city. 

Politically he gives his support to the Republican party, while his 
religious faith is that of the First Lutheran Church, to which he belongs. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks, the Sons of Norway, the Modern Samaritans, and the Blue Lodge, 
Free and Accepted Masons. He is a member of the Duluth Boat Club 
and the Retail Merchants Association. 

On September 4, 1895, Mr. Borgen was married to Anna Hoegh, 
who was born in Norway, coming to the United States alone in 1894. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Borgen have been born four children, namely : Thor- 
stein, born March 21, 1899; Gudvein, born March 14, 1900;' Herbert, 
born April 21, 1902; and Roy, born November 21, 1910. Thorstein was 
a student in the Duluth public schools, being in the high school when the 
United States entered the great World war. He promptly enlisted in 
the Navy, and on April 7, 1917, was sent to Philadelphia. He was 
assigned to the battleship division of the Navy and remained in active 
service until receiving his discharge on February 4, 1919. Gudvein, 
who completed her studies in the Duluth public schools, is at home. Her- 
bert, after leaving the public schools, became a student in Waldruff Col- 
lege at Forest City, Iowa. Roy is attending the Duluth public schools. 
The success which has come to Mr. Borgen is directly traceable to the 
salient points in his character, for he started in life at the bottom of 
the ladder, which he mounted unaided. With a mind capable of plan- 
ning, he combined a will strong enough to execute his well formulated 
purposes, and his energy, sound judgment, keen discrimination and per- 
severance have resulted in the splendid prosperity which he now enjoys. 

Emanuel W. Coons. Soon after the working of the first iron ore 
deposits on the Mesaba Range Emanuel W. Coons came into the region, 
went into business as a merchant at Virginia, but for the greater part 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1193 

of twenty years has been actively identified with the mining industry 
and with contracting. For the past eighteen years as a contractor he 
has handled many of the large municipal improvements in Hibbing and 
vicinity. 

Mr. Coons was born at Marshall, Illinois, February 22, 1867, a son 
of George H. and Emma (Brossman) Coons. His father came from 
a long line of American ancestry and the mother was of Pennsylvania 
Dutch stock. George H. Coons spent his early life as a farmer, but 
for several years past has been engaged in the contracting and drainage 
business, his home being at Washington, Indiana. 

One of four children. Emanuel W. Coons was reared on a farm, 
had a district school education and lived in Illinois until he was twenty- 
three years of age. In the fall of 1890 he went to Crystal Falls. Michi- 
gan, where he took up carpentering, his first work being on the Court 
House of Iron County. Then, in February, 1893, he came to the 
Mesaba Range in St. Louis County, Minnesota, locating at Virginia, 
and in March opened a stock of furniture. His business was burned 
out in June, but he reestablished himself and continued until 1897, when 
he sold. In February, 1898, Mr. Coons began firing a steam shovel for 
the stripping firm of the Drake & Stratton Company at the Biwabik 
Mine at Biwabik. He was in the service of this corporation for four- 
teen years, but in a rising scale of responsibility, eventually becoming 
superintendent. 

Since 1912 Mr. Coons has made his home at Hibbing and has em- 
ployed his capital and increasing organization in general contracting 
under the firm name of the E. W. Coons Company. This firm put down 
all the pavements in the village of Hibbing, constructed the present res- 
ervoir and water system, and does a large business over St. Louis 
County. 

Mr. Coons is a Republican voter and member of the Catholic Church. 
July 5, 1893, he married Amanda Thouin. Their one daughter is Phyllis 
Margaret. Mr. Coons is deeply interested in public affairs, and has held 
some official places, serving as deputy county coroner under Dr. J. J. 
Eckiund and as deputy county clerk under John Owens. He was exalted 
ruler of his Lodge of Elks in 1919 and is a member of the Knights 
of Columbus and the Algonquin Club. 

Harry P. Lee. The splendid success that has attended his business 
enterprise in the city of Duluth has fully justified the confidence and 
good judgment displayed by Mr. Lee when he here established, in 1900, 
the first cash-and-carry meat market of the city. Excellent service to 
a discriminating and appreciative patronage has been the secure basis 
on which the substantial and prosperous business has been built up, 
and incidentally Mr. Lee has gained place as one of the progressive 
business men and loyal and public-spirited citizens of the fair metropolis 
at the Head of Lake Superior. 

Harry P. Lee was born in Ireland, September 27, 1866, and is a 
son of John and Ellen Lee. In his career in the United States he has 
proved himself a master of expedients and has won success through his 
own energy and well directed efforts. He acquired the major part of 
his early education in the schools of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the 
family home was established upon immigration to this country from the 
fair old Emerald Isle, and later he completed a course of study in Upper 
Iowa University at Fayette, Io.wa, where he continued his studies until 
1889. Mr. Lee gained in his youth a thorough knowledge of the vari- 
ous details of the meat-market business and became an expert at his 



1194 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

trade. Prior to coming to Duluth he had conducted markets at Lawler 
and Oelwein, Iowa, and in 1900, as previously noted, he came to Duluth 
and opened the first cash-and-carry market. His large and well equipped 
market is established at 205 West First street, with the best of modern 
facilities and service, and here he has developed a business that has 
attained to as high an annual aggregate as $250,000. This statement 
bears its own significance as attesting the unqualified success that has 
attended the well conducted enterprise. 

Mr. Lee is a valued member of the Duluth Commercial Club, is 
independent in politics and gives his support to men and measures meet- 
ing the approval of his judgment, and he and his family are communi- 
cants of the Catholic Church. 

At Lawler, Iowa, on the 26th of May, 1891, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Lee to Miss Mary E. Gurnette. daughter of Thomas 
and Johanna Gurnette, the father having given gallant service as a 
soldier of the Union in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Lee have three 
children: Cletus H., Andrew J. and Harma M. The two sons were 
gallant young men who represented Duluth in the nation's service in the 
World war, Cletus H. having been in the marine aviation service and 
Andrew J. in that of the field artillery. Both of the sons saw five 
months of service in France. 

Thomas A. Flannigan, general superintendent of the Republic Iron 
and Steel Company, is one of the best-known men in his calling in north- 
ern Minnesota, and a commanding figure at Gilbert. He was born at 
Ishpeming, Michigan, April 19, 1881. a son of Thomas A. and Johanna 
(Fogarty) Flannigan. The elder Thomas A. Flannigan was born in 
Ireland in 1831, but came to the United States when he was eighteen 
years of age, and immediately became identified with mining operations. 
He was one of the pioneers in the Lake Superior country. His wife was 
born in Ireland but came to the United States when young, and they 
were married at Ishpeming, Michigan. They had nine children, of whom 
the younger Thomas A. Flannigan was the sixth in order of birth. 

Growing up at Ishpeming, Thomas A. Flannigan attended its public 
schools and was graduated from its high school course in 1898. Dur- 
ing 1899 and 1900 he attended the Detroit Business College and then 
became private secretary to Captain Walters of the Pittsburgh and Lake 
Angeline Iron Company, and held that position during 1900 and 1901. 
Mr. Flannigan then went to Virginia, Minnesota, and became cashier of 
the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company, and was at the Lincoln Mine 
as such for four years. In 1906 he began his connection with the Repub- 
lic Iron and Steel Company as superintendent of the Onandago Mine at 
Virginia, and after four years in this position was transferred to Gilbert, 
in 1910, and made superintendent of the Schley and Pettit Mines. 
Further promotion was accorded in 1911 when he was made superin- 
tendent of the Mesaba Range Mines of this same company, and is stiil 
holding that position. 

A man of great force of character, Mr. Flannigan has directed some 
of his energy to civic affairs, and served Gilbert for two years as village 
trustee so efficiently that he was re-elected for a term of three years. 
He has been supervisor of Mesabi Mountain township for eleven years 
and is now chairman of the county board. He belongs to Virginia Lodge 
No. 1003, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Duluth Council. 
Knights of Columbus, and in religious belief is a Catholic. Politically he 
is a Republican. During the great war Mr. Flannigan was a member of the 
Home Guards, and served as chairman of several of the local commit- 



h. 



DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 1195 

tees, having in charge the promotion of the various drives, and he was 
also a member of the executive committee of the Local Council of 
Defense. 

On June 26, 1917, Mr. Flannigan was married to Miss Foryst Hurt 
at Des Moines, Iowa. She was born at Neuman, a daughter of Doctor 
Hurt, and is a member of an old American family. Mr. and Mrs. Flan- 
nigan have one son, Thomas A., who was born April 9, 1918. 

Daniel B. Hayes. The thriving village of Hibbing made wise and 
consistent selection when the municipal authorities advanced Daniel B. 
Hayes to the office of chief of the police department upon the death of 
the former incumbent, W. J. Dwyer. Chief Hayes had already made an 
excellent record as a member of the police force of this village, with 
which he became identified in the year 1912. His effective service led 
to his promotion to the position of sergeant, and his advancement to the 
office of chief of police came on the 6th of December, 1920. 

Mr. Hayes was born at Negaunee, Michigan, August 20, 1880, and 
is a son of James and Mary (Harding) Hayes, both natives of Ireland, 
where the former was born in County Tipperary and the latter in County 
Limerick, both having been young folk when they came to America and 
their marriage having been solemnized in northern Michigan. James 
Hayes gained a measure of pioneer prestige in connection with mining 
operations on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and he is still living, 
at the age of seventy-eight years (1921), his devoted wife having passed 
to the life eternal on the 5th of March, 1916. The religious faith of 
the family has ever been that of the Catholic Church. Of eight children, 
Daniel B., of this review, was the sixth in order of birth. 

Hibbing's chief of police gained his early education in parochial and 
public schools in his native city, attending school until fifteen years of 
age, and for five years he lived in Ironwood, another of the vital min- 
ing cities of northern Michigan. He became a locomotive engineer in 
the employ of the Oliver Mining Company, and in the service of the 
same company he later became foreman at the Hull-Rust Mine in the 
Hibbing district of Minnesota. In 1912 he severed his association with 
the mining company and became a member of the Hibbing police force, 
in which his efficient and discriminating service, as coupled with his 
personal popularity, eventually led to his being chosen chief of the 
department, the office in which he is now giving a most able and satis- 
factory administration. 

Chief Hayes is independent in politics, is interested in all that con- 
cerns the welfare and advancement of his home village, and is one of 
the valued officials of Hibbing. Both he and his wife are earnest com- 
municants of the Catholic Church. 

In the year 1917 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hayes to Miss 
Ethel Summers, of Ligonier, Indiana, and they have two children, Cath- 
erine Eileen and Daniel Leo. 

Edmund I. Casey' has been identified in a business way with and 
has had his residence in the Range country of northern Minnesota for 
thirty years. He is an old time merchant of Chisholm, and was in busi- 
ness there when the town was destroyed by fire in 1908. He is presi- 
dent of the C. P. Drug Company, an organization operating a chain of 
drug stores in several of the Range towns. 

Mr. Casey was born in Livingston County, New York, May 25, 1865, 
son of John Powell and Alida (Burr) Casey. His people were Colonial 
settlers, lived for several generations at Providence, Rhode Island, and 



1196 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 

members of the family have been represented in the various wars of 
the nation. For the most part they have been agriculturists. 

When Edmund I. Casey was ten years of age his parents moved to 
Minneapolis and he grew up and lived in that city to the age of twenty- 
five. His father was employed in the flouring mills as a wheat inspector. 
Mr. Casey had a grammar school education and as a boy entered employ- 
ment in the line which he has followed ever since. He learned the drug 
business in a wholesale house at Minneapolis, and for about six years 
was connected with a wholesale drug company at Duluth. It was in 
1890 that he came to the Iron Range district as manager of a drug 
store at Hibbing, one of the first enterprises of that community. In 
1906 he became associated with J. J. Hayes in the drug business at 
Chisholm, and since then has gradually extended his enterprise until 
the C. P. Drug Company, of which he is president, now has stores at 
Hibbing, Virginia and Chisholm. Mr. Casey is a director of the Chisholm 
Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Kiwanis Club, is a thirty-second 
degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, and a member of the Elks. 
He is a Methodist. In 1892 he married Emma Johnson, a native of 
Minnesota. The three children- born to their marriage are Roy E., 
Ruth M. and Anna E. The son Roy as a member of the National Guard 
served with Company M on the Mexican border, and when America 
entered the war with Germany he attended the Officers Training School 
at Fort Snelling, was commissioned a second lieutenant in Field Artil- 
lery, but was kept in this country for training purposes. 

Hiram S. Rankin holds a university degree as mechanical engineer 
and for over ten years has been engaged in engineering work on the 
Mesaba Range, and since 1916 has been . superintendent
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Full text of "Duluth and St. Louis County, Minnesota; their story and people; an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development"

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